Independent Campaign Commercials: Shame on Us, America
We heard all about 527 groups like Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and America Coming Together in the 2004 presidential election. The term “swift boat� has been used since the despicable attack on Senator John Kerry on his war record. We will hear some more “swift boat� ads this cycle with Senator John McCain’s Vietnam War record on trial. The only difference is that we will hear these ads from non-profits as well as 527 groups.
Mother Jones had an article on its website today that highlights changes in campaign finance law that will make third-party ads more prominent in the election. The Supreme Court eased the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law in June 2007 but the FEC has recently rule that several 527 groups broke these laws. It seems that the federal government continues to be at odds, struggling between the inevitable and permanent pressure of money in politics and token efforts at reform.
We will see non-profit groups all over the political spectrum participate in the slash-and-burn techniques that we have become accustomed to in American politics. I think that Americans need to take on a greater share of responsibility for the effectiveness of these ads. American voters who knew that George W. Bush was an ineffective president were pushed around by Republican operatives using the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth as a legal shield for their dirty deeds. The unique nature of the 2008 election means that we will see ugly ads about Barack Obama as a Muslim extremist, Hillary Clinton as an extension of her lightning rod of a husband and John McCain as a hypocrite and a liar. It is up to every voter to bypass ads from groups outside of the campaigns by finding balance among the myriad sources of information. We have no one to blame but ourselves if we are convinced by any of the faulty arguments and half-truths espoused by non-profit groups.
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