Independent groups spend millions to promote their favored candidate in political fray
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By Ed Tibbetts | Tuesday, January 01, 2008 |
The millions of dollars being spent in Iowa before the presidential caucuses aren’t just coming from the dozen-plus presidential candidates.
Independent groups are flooding the airwaves and filling Iowa’s mailboxes trying to boost their favored candidates with just two days left before Thursday’s caucuses.
Firefighters, teachers, government workers, carpenters, women and fiscal conservatives, among others, are specific constituencies represented by a handful of groups that not only are running ads, but in some cases are setting up intricate get-out-the-vote networks aimed at moving their people to the 1,784 precinct sites Thursday night.
The American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Union, which has endorsed Hillary Clinton, has spent $1.6 million. EMILY’s List, a group that tries to elect women who support abortion rights, has spent nearly $500,000. It, too, has endorsed Clinton. The Club for Growth, a Washington, D.C., group that advocates smaller government and lower taxes, said last week it was increasing its television buy in Iowa to $550,000. The group has targeted Mike Huckabee record in Arkansas.
Not all of that spending is in Iowa, but a significant part of it is.
Some of the groups are what are called 527s, committees that can raise nearly unlimited sums of money and aren’t subject to the same rules as candidates or the more familiar political action committees.
These independent groups are wading into a state already awash in advertising. Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards have spent $17.5 million on television ads in Iowa, according to The New York Times, which cited CMAG, a company that tracks political advertising. Obama leads with way with $8.3 million, followed by Clinton and Edwards at $6.5 million and $2.7 million, respectively.
With all this advertising, there’s some question whether the independent ads are making a dent in the public’s mind. Dave Nagle, the former chairman of the state Democratic Party, said they’re having an impact.
“They always get through, and they get through on two levels,” he said. “They cause indecision among the undecided, and they add resolve to the candidates they’re supporting.”
Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University and a longtime caucus observer, isn’t so sure.
“I don’t think the Democratic ones are breaking through at this point,” he said. “They’re just piling on to what Clinton, Edwards and Obama are doing.”
In recent days, Obama has tried to turn the involvement of outside groups into a weapon. His campaign manager issued a memo Saturday claiming $4.6 million has been spent by people either targeting him or assisting his opponents.
“This unprecedented level of outside spending could impact the outcome of Iowa and New Hampshire,” David Plouffe said in his memo.
Much of the attention has gone to the Alliance for a New America, a 527 that’s funded in large part by local unions affiliated with the Service Employees International Union. It also, however, got a $495,000 donation from an New York City entity connected to philanthropist Rachel Mellon, who is in her 90s. The Obama campaign said the group has spent $1.5 million.
News reports in the past week have raised questions about whether there was improper contact between Edwards and the group, an allegation both denied. The Edwards campaign has also pointed out that a 527 called Vote Hope is backing Obama. It is less active, however.
Although it’s mostly been Edwards and Obama who have sparred over the independent groups, Clinton was asked about the groups this weekend.
“I obviously have no control over it,” she said Saturday, but added she would make campaign finance reform a priority if elected.
The activity by independent groups has been less noticeable on the Republican side. The Club for Growth has weighed in, but it’s one of few. An organization called Common Sense Issues has begun running a television ad targeting Mitt Romney.
Common Sense Issues also has been making calls to Iowans, according to activists, some of whom have called them “push polls.” The group is a nonprofit based in Ohio and is run by a Huckabee supporter, according to The Washington Post.
Independent groups involved in the Republican and Democratic caucuses are both advertising, but it’s the latter that are most active trying to put together ground games.
The AFSCME union, for example, is a heavyweight in Democratic politics in the state. And at 10 sites across Iowa, operatives are working to turn out the 40,000 people it represents caucus night. EMILY’s List, meanwhile, is targeting women who haven’t gone to the caucuses before but are politically active enough to have voted in 2006.
Maren Helsa, director of the group’s Women Vote program, said last month she would consider the effort successful if it turned out 5,000 to 10,000 women for Clinton on Thursday.
On the Republican side, there appears to be no similar independent turnout effort, said Chuck Laudner, executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa. That, he says, will likely limit their impact.
“They’re advertising, but they’re not organizing,” he said. “And this is a test of organizational strength.”
He, too, tends to think the ads aren’t effective.
“A lot of time it adds to what we already know,” he said. “We didn’t just start vetting these candidates two weeks ago.”
Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.
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