Democrats Form New Group for Fund-Raising and Ads
From The New York Times:
Sensing both political danger and opportunity, a top Democratic operative and a group of major party donors have banded together to deliver a barrage of late advertising and on-the-ground action to secure Democratic victories in November.
The operative, Harold M. Ickes, a top aide to former President Bill Clinton and informal adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and a group of allies are soliciting money for a new organization called the September Fund.
They hope to raise and spend as much as $25 million to influence not only crucial Congressional races but also other campaigns and ballot initiatives at the federal and state level.
Mr. Ickes was among the chief organizers of several groups that raised more than $200 million from wealthy liberals and labor unions in 2004 to try to defeat President Bush.
After months in which Democrats have fretted about how much support they would get from those sources this time around, Mr. Ickes is turning to many of the same donors in hopes that a surge of spending in the fall campaign’s final weeks will cement Democratic gains against a president and a Republican-led Congress whose approval ratings are sagging.
The September Fund, like the groups Mr. Ickes helped organize in 2004, is set up under a loophole in campaign finance law that allows political groups to escape federal donation limits that apply to party committees and candidates. Such groups, called 527 groups for the relevant section of the Internal Revenue Code, cannot advocate the election or defeat of any candidate but can engage in issue advertising that draws distinctions between the two parties.
Federal law bars such groups from coordinating their activities with candidates or party committees, although many of the people running them, like Mr. Ickes, have longstanding ties to top party figures.
In a memorandum to potential donors, Mr. Ickes and the other organizers of the fund warned that while Democrats appeared united in their political goals, Republicans had $80 million more than Democrats to spend on fall races.
On the Republican side, Club for Growth has supported conservatives in primaries against moderate incumbents in Michigan and Rhode Island. Progress for America is running advertisements on national cable television and in Missouri praising Republican strength in combating terrorism.
Sensing both political danger and opportunity, a top Democratic operative and a group of major party donors have banded together to deliver a barrage of late advertising and on-the-ground action to secure Democratic victories in November.
The operative, Harold M. Ickes, a top aide to former President Bill Clinton and informal adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and a group of allies are soliciting money for a new organization called the September Fund.
They hope to raise and spend as much as $25 million to influence not only crucial Congressional races but also other campaigns and ballot initiatives at the federal and state level.
Mr. Ickes was among the chief organizers of several groups that raised more than $200 million from wealthy liberals and labor unions in 2004 to try to defeat President Bush.
After months in which Democrats have fretted about how much support they would get from those sources this time around, Mr. Ickes is turning to many of the same donors in hopes that a surge of spending in the fall campaign’s final weeks will cement Democratic gains against a president and a Republican-led Congress whose approval ratings are sagging.
The September Fund, like the groups Mr. Ickes helped organize in 2004, is set up under a loophole in campaign finance law that allows political groups to escape federal donation limits that apply to party committees and candidates. Such groups, called 527 groups for the relevant section of the Internal Revenue Code, cannot advocate the election or defeat of any candidate but can engage in issue advertising that draws distinctions between the two parties.
Federal law bars such groups from coordinating their activities with candidates or party committees, although many of the people running them, like Mr. Ickes, have longstanding ties to top party figures.
In a memorandum to potential donors, Mr. Ickes and the other organizers of the fund warned that while Democrats appeared united in their political goals, Republicans had $80 million more than Democrats to spend on fall races.
On the Republican side, Club for Growth has supported conservatives in primaries against moderate incumbents in Michigan and Rhode Island. Progress for America is running advertisements on national cable television and in Missouri praising Republican strength in combating terrorism.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 1:32 PM
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