Beverly Davis: Pro-Clinton Group Swiftboating Obama In Indiana - Off The Bus on The Huffington Post
The gritty black and white ad soon to be unleashed in Indiana by the pro-Clinton American Leadership Project is tough:
"Our economy is in trouble, rising prices, unemployment, foreclosures, so what's Barack Obama's plan?...The Associated Press reported that Obama's proposals to cleanup financial markets had no specifics and the Washington Post wrote that what Obama would actually do remains a mystery in too many areas. Call Barack Obama and tell him to give Hoosiers a real plan to fix our economy."
Indiana's 84 delegates are up for grabs, with the candidates running neck and neck in the state, according to polls. Both Democratic contenders and The American Leadership Project (ALP), a pro-Clinton stealth non-profit operating outside the campaign finance laws, are planning on airing competing ads in the Hoosier state, but it's the ALP ad and the organization's $700,000 buy that has the Obama campaign scurrying to reporters in an effort to blunt the attack.
In a press phone call conference, Heather Higginbottom, the Obama Campaign National Policy Director said, "The substance of the ALP attack ad is baseless. Senator Obama has set out a plan with specific policies. He [Senator Obama] has a 48-page economy policy paper to strengthen the economy and it is posted on our website."
Obama supporter, State Representative Ryan Dvorak from Indiana said, "What we got is a lot of Hoosiers excited by a candidate that would bridge the political divide and then we saw Ohio and Pennsylvania inserting a lot of negativity. The ALP is just one of Hillary Clinton's pal groups, run by one of Mark Penn's employees. What I get from my district is that my people want to see a positive outlook."
The American Leadership Project operates under the IRS tax code "527" often referred to as 'stealth non-profits' because they can raise funds and pay for advertising outside the regulations required by the Federal Election Commission.
One famous 527 was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that ran negative ads against John Kerry, credited for helping to sink his White House ambitions.
Bob Bauer, Obama Campaign Chief Counsel said, "We've seen ALP before...and they are completely breaking the law. They've modeled themselves after the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth. It has been organized by her [Hillary Clinton] supporters and supported by her campaign and the consequences are going to be severe. The standards of the FCC are being completely violated. Sometimes people in desperate situations do desperate things."
Bauer stopped short of saying that he would file a complaint against the ALP but promised that the people involved in organizing and running the ad runs a high risk of being prosecuted by federal authorities.
With the race up for grabs in the last delegate rich state left on the map and Obama's recent losses in Ohio and Pennsylvania, 527's with their rich coffers and scant oversight by federal watchdogs will figure larger in this primary race for the nomination than ever before.
This video is from American Leadership Project, broadcast April 29, 2008.
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