Republicans
outfoxed the Democratic Party and Kerry campaign.
President Bush's political team is orchestrating a vastly larger advertising campaign than thought possible under federal law, taking control of millions in Republican Party funds simply by inserting the phrase "our leaders in Congress" in selected commercials.
The GOP strategy had gone unnoticed for weeks by Sen. John Kerry and the Democrats, who now may abandon their own less-cost-efficient approach to advertising.
Ken Mehlman, Bush's campaign manager, said in an interview that federal election law allows the campaign access to party money "provided that your message is broader than the individual candidate and includes a discussion of the overall agenda and the message of the party." The Republican National Committee has $93 million on hand.
This is my favorite part of the story:
Jano Cabrera, a Democratic National Committee spokesman, said Democratic officials were unfamiliar with the GOP ad strategy until asked about it by a reporter.
"We do not discuss our future ad strategy," Cabrera said, but other Democratic officials said the party was quickly looking into following the Republicans' lead.
I'm tired of playing catchup. I'm tired of the fact that their lawyers caught this glaring loophole, and ours did not. I'm tired of the fact that Republicans have had nearly a three-week advantage doing this, before we get our shit together.
We could've used this loophole in August, when Kerry was limited to spending while Bush could continue to spend "primary" funds bashing Kerry. Republicans will be as aggressive as they need to be to win elections. We need to learn to play the same game, under the same rules.
