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WASHINGTON — Democrats and the media have used the term so much that it's almost an article of faith. But the so-called ”Republican attack machine“ waiting with piles of unregulated cash to chew up Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is anything but.
Obama cited the threat of unregulated attack groups to justify dropping his pledge to take public financing — along with its spending limits — for the general election campaign. The groups are called ”527s“ because they're authorized to raise unlimited cash under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service code.
Yet there's no 2008 equivalent to the 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which spent $22 million attacking Democrat John Kerry. Prominent groups and donors that played key roles in independent conservative 527 groups four years ago say they're sitting out this election. And while they've raised more than they had at this point four years ago, the independent pro-Republican groups still lag more than $50 million behind pro-Democratic groups.
Why? Analysts and Republican insiders point to several reasons:
■ Contributors are nervous about increased federal regulation.
■ Those who operate such groups fear a backlash, including from their better-paying corporate clients, who might not want to be associated with such attacks. —Few are eager to take such risks to help John McCain, who's bashed such efforts in the past and could again.
Of course, they still could jump in at any time, thanks to their ability to raise cash fast with a few huge checks.
”These groups can pop up overnight because they can take unlimited contributions from almost anybody,“ said Massie Ritsch, the communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that analyzes money in politics.
”Just because they're not doing anything now doesn't mean they won't jump out of the shadows.“
At this stage four years ago, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had been up and running for more than a month, ripping Kerry's Vietnam record. It started airing its big ads that August.
Another pro-Republican group, Progress for America, aired its first ad criticizing Kerry's national-security record and credentials four years ago this week, the first $1 million salvo of what would be a $35 million barrage in key states.
Today, there are no such groups on the Republican side.
DCI Group, a public affairs firm that ran Progress for America in 2004, said this week that it won't do any political work this campaign and instead will focus entirely on clients including corporations, trade associations and non-profits.
”We are not participating in 527 activities in the presidential election,“ DCI spokesman Geoff Basye said.
Freedom's Watch, another conservative group, so far has decided to skip the presidential campaign to focus on congressional contests. ”We have no plans to get involved,“ spokesman Ed Patru said.
However, Regnery Publishing — which in the summer of 2004 put out Unfit for Command, a scathing look at Kerry's war record — is about to publish The Case Against Barack Obama, a critical biography by conservative journalist David Freddoso.
