Following the demise of soft money at the national party level, some theorized that state parties would rise to prominence, not restrained in raising soft money. It was an argument I was wont to buy, since those soft dollars were going to go somewhere.
But fact is, state parties are generally worthless. Rather than take advantage of this loophole in the campaign finance laws to take charge of the political process, they sat around and did nothing.
And since nature abhors a vaccum...
The 527s were born. And they have arrived at the scene with a vengeance. Right now, three organizations are running political ads. The Club for Growth is going after Dean for his tax policies.
The New Democrat Network is running Spanish-language ads aimed at blunting Bush's support in the Latino community.
MoveOn.org is targeting the waste of taxpayer dollars on Bush's War.
Here we are, just shy of a year from the election, and these organizations are already on the air, attempting to frame the political debate. The parties, on the other hand, are silent. In effect, we are seeing the 527s -- political action committees able to raise unlimited amount of money without strict reporting requirements -- take center stage this political season.
And the GOP is scared. The Republicans have depended on big money advantages to win elections. Without those advantages, they have to run on issues. And unless they obfuscate their agenda, the issues don't work for them. The 2003 cycle was instructive, as nearly every Republican who won did so by vastly outspending the opposing Democrat.
The 527s, alongside new fundraising gains by Democrats like Dean, now threaten to give our guys financial parity at the presidential level. The GOP can't have that happen, and they're doing whatever they can to blunt the success of the progressive 527s. From FECInfo.com:
FEC Advisory Opinion Request on 527 Activity Made Public The Federal Election Commission today released a twenty-page advisory opinion request (AOR 2003-37) from a Sec. 527 organization, Americans For A Better Country. The Request goes into extensive detail about the Republican-oriented organization's possible activities (or those of others) before the 2004 presidential election. Numerous questions are raised about the group's possible funding sources, staff, vendors, mail and telephone scripts, TV and radio ads, and relationships with party committees and officeholders. (Link is a PDF)
Americans for a Better Country is a fake organization. They registered the domain americansforabettercountry.com the day after they submitted their application to the FEC. Their whole purpose is to try and discredit the progressive 527s.
How? They have requested permission from the FEC to perform activities far beyond what any progressive 527 does (including express advocacy of Republican candidates).
So here's what'll probably happen. The FEC will reject most of what ABC has requested. The GOP will then use that decision to try and discredit the progressive 527s, both via a Wurlitzer attack and legally as well.
Furthermore, Ohio Republican Rep. Bob Ney, whose committee oversees the FEC, is also looking at ways to stem the growth of these 527s.
Meanwhile, Republicans on the House Administration Committee authorized Chairman Robert Ney to subpoena six leaders of new Democratic-leaning groups who refused to testify at a committee hearing Thursday. If the Ohio Republican does so, they could be forced to testify and produce documents detailing their fund-raising activities.
The GOP will try to fight the 527s, but the 1st Amendment is controlling. They will try to disrupt online communities like this one and our nominee's official blog, but we'll soldier on.
This political season promises to be like no other, analogous to no other. Between the rise of the political netroots and the rise of the 527, we are looking at a new political frontier.