Swiftboaters Are Starting: Ad Praises McCain, but He Wants It Pulled

[babylonsister]

Ad Praises McCain, but He Wants It Pulled

By Jim Rutenberg


And so it begins.

The Associated Press reports on a new outside group helping Senator John McCain in South Carolina, where he was viciously attacked in 2000 by forces supportive of President Bush.

The group, called the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America is running an ad applauding of Mr. McCain and local legislators for their support for funding the Iraq war, and for his calls to rein in the budget. The group is a 501(c) 4 nonprofit group, meaning that it does not have to disclose its donors. And it has on its ad team Rick Reed, whose firm, Stevens Reed Curcio & Potholm, produced the Swift Boat Veteran’s for Truth spots against Senator John Kerry that Mr. McCain, among others, criticized.

Mr. McCain, it so happens, had named the firm as part of his team earlier this year when he was building a large campaign organization, but did not keep it on after he restructured his operation last summer. The McCain campaign said it paid Mr. Reed’s firm a fee for archival footage, but never paid them in any substantial way.

Mr. McCain released a statement criticizing the group and asking that the ad not be aired: “I have always fought for full disclosure of all money spent in federal elections and I have opposed the expenditure of soft money by independent groups trying to influence federal elections. This remains my position and I condemn such spending in this election. To me, the question is not if it is legal but if it is really the best way to conduct a campaign. If anyone considering an outside expenditure thinks they are benefiting me I would prefer they not air the ads. If there are ads up I believe they should come down.”

Mr. McCain also has been a champion of campaign finance restrictions aimed at limiting the influence of groups like this one.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/group-unveils-ad-applauding-mccain/