Link to Kerry FEC story on CNN

[Cocoa]

i]http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/20/kerry.swiftboat/

(CNN) -- The Kerry presidential campaign on Friday filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, alleging ads from an anti-Kerry veterans' group are inaccurate and "illegally coordinated" with Republicans and the Bush-Cheney campaign.

The complaint was filed against Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. It states that "based on recent press reports and SBVT's own statements there is overwhelming evidence that SBVT is coordinating its expenditures on advertising and other activities designed to influence the presidential election with the Bush-Cheney campaign."

Members of that group have denied any coordination with the GOP campaign, as have members of the Bush-Cheney team.

A spokesman for the Bush-Cheney campaign dismissed the complaint as "false and frivolous," but said it welcomed a broader look at the role 527 groups -- named for a section of the federal tax code -- have played this election season.

more...

[pmbryant]

1. Buried in that article, more evidence of our "liberal" media

(emphasis added)

More than half the country has seen or heard about that ad, a survey by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey found.

The ad, began airing in battleground states August 5. But the survey of more than 2,200 people between August 9 and August 16 found it was the heavy news media attention that gave the ad its reach.

"The influence of this ad is a function not of paid exposure but of the ad's treatment in free media," said Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the survey, in a written statement. "The advertisement has received extensive coverage, particularly on conservative talk radio and cable news channels, and has been the subject of some attention in broadcast news as well."

[Sparkly]

2. And another

The group, however, has no direct connection to the Bush campaign, and group members said they have acted independently of the president's re-election effort.

Helloooo? That's what the FEC is going to investigate. I guess CNN has already decided, though.

[pmbryant]

3. Yes, that caught my eye too

Given the very strong indirect ties, it seems a bit presumptuous to state that flat out. Perhaps they should have written: "no immediately apparent direct connection".

Peter

EDIT: Oh, I now see that there is very strong evidence of a "direct connection" after all.