Dems Found Money Machine
Angling to compete with outside GOP groups, a new Dem organization will form today aimed at helping their party stay competitive in Nov.
The group, called Commonsense Ten, is run by Dem strategists Jim Jordan, Monica Dixon and Jeff Forbes. They say they will raise millions from Dem donor communities in an effort to augment the party's fundraising operations. The Washington Post's "The Fix" blog first reported the group's existence.
Already, GOP groups aimed at helping fund the minority's campaigns have made big noise. American Crossroads, a group chaired by ex-RNC chair Mike Duncan and advised by ex-RNC chief Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove, has said it will raise upwards of $50M. The American Action Network, headed by ex-Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) and GOP activist Fred Malek, has already started running ads.
"We looked around and just didn't see anything on our side comparable to what Republicans and their corporate partners are putting together," Jordan told Hotline OnCall. "Just doing our little bit to help."
Commonsense Ten will file with the FEC as an independent expenditure organization, a status that will allow the group to raise unlimited funds from individual contributors.
The type of organization occupies a gray area in the world of campaign finance rules. An '08 court decision in a case called SpeechNow.org v. FEC permits 527 groups formed exclusively for the purpose of funding independent expenditures. Those groups must disclose the same amount of information as campaigns and PACs, including all donations over $200, but they cannot contribute directly to campaigns.
Given the series of court cases over the last 2 years that has better defined campaign finance law, the outside groups can be seen less as shadow alternatives to traditional party organizations and more as ways to augment party spending. A donor can only hand a $30,400 check to the DNC or the RNC, but they can give an unlimited amount to an outside group -- money that will go to essentially the same cause.
This year, the first in which these new outside groups -- referred to in court documents as independent expenditure committees -- will play a major role in electoral campaigns. And because so much money is involved, the largest of the new committees have attracted top political talents.
Jordan, Dixon and Forbes are all veteran Dem strategists. a former executive director of the DSCC who briefly managed Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) WH'04 campaign. Dixon is a top advisor to Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and a former chief of staff at the House Dem Caucus. Forbes, a former DNC official and aide in the Clinton admin, most recently served on a party panel, handpicked by DNC chair Tim Kaine, aimed at reforming Dems' presidential nominating process.
GOPers, too, have flocked to outside groups. American Crossroads is being operated by Steven Law, a former top official at the Chamber of Commerce. The American Action Network, meanwhile, hired Rob Collins, a former chief of staff to House Min. Whip Eric Cantor, to run their operations.