Dirty doings - Just looking at the unbalanced scales;-)...\Stef

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Einar Stefferud <stef () Thor nma com>
Date: August 22, 2004 2:49:24 AM EDT
To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: Dirty doings - Just looking at the unbalanced scales;-)...\Stef

The Washington Times - August 21, 2004

Editorial

Dirty doings


Sen. John Kerry's numerous and inexplicable flip-flops are now common
knowledge, but that hasn't stopped him from continually adding more to 
the
list. His latest lob at the Bush campaign, in reference to questions 
about
Mr. Kerry's military service in Vietnam raised by the Swift Boat 
Veterans
for Truth, is that the president is hiding behind surrogates to do his
"dirty work" for him. That claim, coming from Mr. Kerry's mouth, is a
breathtaking flip-flop.

    Ever since President Bush signed into law the McCain-Feingold 
campaign
finance reform bill in March 2002, which limited soft-money 
contributions to
political parties, money has been finding other ways to influence 
politics.
In this presidential campaign, donations now flow to independent 527 
groups
instead of to campaigns and parties, where they are turned into 
political
advertisements. And it has been Mr. Kerry, not Mr. Bush, who has 
benefited
most handsomely from the change.

    A quick look at the top politically active 527 groups tells us why. 
The
top two 527 committees in terms of fundraising are Media Fund and 
America
Coming Together, which have raised a combined total of $55,032,938. 
Both of
those groups, of course, are dedicated to defeating Mr. Bush in 
November.
Numbers three and four on the list, the Service Employees International
Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal 
Employees,
have raised $30,310,503. Not surprisingly, the Service Employees send 89
percent of their contributions to Democrats, while the American 
Federation
donates 98 percent. Moveon.org, a venomous anti-Bush group that once 
briefly
displayed an ad comparing Bush to Hitler, comes in at number five, with
receipts totaling $9,086,102. Then there is the New Democrat Network, 
which
has raised $7,172,693. Finally, at number seven, is the Club for 
Growth, a
group founded to elect fiscal conservatives. But it only raised 
$4,818,063,
a tiny fraction of the amount that the other groups are using to pummel 
Mr.
Bush.

    Individual donors have also thrown their weight behind Mr. Kerry.
Billionaire George Soros, for example, has poured $12.6 million thus far
into various 527 groups seeking the defeat of Mr. Bush, including $2.5
million to Moveon.org and $5 million to America Coming Together. Peter
Lewis, another prolific donor, has thrown $2,995,000 to America Coming
Together and $2.5 million to Moveon.org. Stephen Bing, a controversial
figure from Shangri-La Entertainment, has donated almost $7 million to
America Coming Together and to the Media Fund. So when it comes to
surrogates doing the "dirty work," Mr. Kerry's allies outraise Mr. 
Bush's
hands down. But will Mr. Kerry condemn the "dirty work" of Moveon.org or
America Coming Together? We won't hold our breath.

    So Mr. Kerry's complaint about Mr. Bush hiding behind surrogates is 
yet
another flip-flop. His policy seems to be that using surrogates to do 
the
"dirty work" is alright, so long as their attacks aren't aimed at 
Democrats.

Copyright © 2004 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040820-090503-2168r.htm

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