Independent Expenditure - Political History and Applications in The 21st Century

Political History and Applications in The 21st Century

In 2004, the presidential campaigns of both Senator John Kerry and President George W. Bush were faced with attacks from 527 independent expenditure committees. Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacked Senator Kerry on his record of service during the Vietnam War, while liberal 527 groups such as MoveOn.org, The Media Fund and America Coming Together used a message of defeating President Bush in their independent expenditures. In September 2004, the Bush campaign filed a lawsuit accusing these liberal 527 organizations of violating election law by coordinating their efforts with the Kerry campaign.

527 groups are tax-exempt and named after the section of the Internal Revenue Code under which they fall. They are able to raise money for political activities, but are only required to file regular disclosure reports if they operate as a political party or political action committee engaging in activities that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a federal candidate, or electioneering communications. Since they are not required to file disclosures with the FEC, 527 groups are able to raise unlimited funds for their voter mobilization and issue advocacy.

In the 2004 election, the Bush campaign believed that the liberal 527 organizations such as MoveOn.org, The Media Fund and America Coming Together were coordinating their message with the Kerry for President campaign – thereby advocating the election of a federal candidate, and should therefore be held to the campaign finance limits of a political party or political action committee.

In 2006, the Republican National Committee ran an independent expenditure television commercial aimed at Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., who was campaigning for an open Senate seat in Tennessee. The commercial featured fake “man on the street” interviews that criticized Ford’s stance on tax and security issues.

“The controversy erupted over one of the people featured: an attractive white woman, bare-shouldered, who declares that she met Mr. Ford at a ‘Playboy party,’ and closes the commercial by looking into the camera and saying, with a wink, ‘Harold, call me.’ ”

Calling the spot racist, Republican candidate and former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker demanded that the spot be taken off the air, even though his campaign had nothing to do with its creation or airing.

This campaign was especially significant because, if he won, Ford would have been the first African-American senator to represent the South since Reconstruction.

In 2008, an FEC complaint was filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) against the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and an independent organization, Freedom’s Watch. The complaint alleged that the two organizations were illegally coordinating campaign activities. Freedom’s Watch had aired a campaign commercial against Democratic congressional candidate Don Cazayoux as an independent expenditure. The script of the ad as submitted to Louisiana television stations contained metadata that suggested that it had been edited by staff of the NRCC. This was a significant implementation of campaign finance law because it implied coordination between two groups making independent expenditures.