The massive influx of corporate money being used to bash Democrats can only be combatted for this cycle by Dems making sure a bright light is shone on that shady funding. The revelation, and lack of denial by the Chamber, that foreign money is probably funding these attack ads is a particularly salient issue. More and more Democrats are seizing on that, most importantly President Obama, while campaigning in Maryland Thursday for Gov. Martin O’Malley.
Just this week, we learned that one of the largest groups paying for these ad regularly takes in money from foreign corporations. So groups that receive foreign money are spending huge sums to influence American elections. And they won’t tell you where the money for the ads come from.
So this isn’t just a threat to Democrats. All Republicans should be concerned. Independents should be concerned. This is a threat to our democracy. The American people deserve to know who’s trying to influence their elections. And if we just stand by and allow the special interests to silence anybody who’s got the guts to stand up to them, our country’s going to be a very different place.
That after White House Press Secretary Gibbs, for the second time in two days, "called on the Chamber of Commerce and other politically active groups to unveil their donors as the election approaches."
More and more candidates are also pouncing on the issue, demanding transparency from their opponents who have the backing of the Chamber's ads.
Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) and Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher (D) have blasted their opponents for benefiting from campaign spending by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which accepts foreign contributions to its general treasury fund....
The Washington State Democratic Party on Thursday tried to turn the Chamber's political activity against GOP candidate Dino Rossi.
"One of Dino Rossi’s closest corporate sponsors, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has come under scrutiny recently after reports found that they are using money raised in foreign countries in their political attack campaigns," the state party charged in a statement. "Campaign finance laws expressly prohibit foreign corporations from getting involved in American elections."
Democrats aggressively pushing this story out there, and particularly Obama using the bully pulpit to highlight it, is the best way of combatting the obscene amounts of money being thrown at them. It's also a critical way of reminding the American electorate of just whose side the Republicans are on.
