Wash. Post ignored attack ads on Obama, asserting, "To date, no conservative 527 groups have materialized"

In a June 20 article, The Washington Post reported that "[t]o date, no conservative 527 groups have materialized" to oppose Sen. Barack Obama, repeating a June 19 assertion by washingtonpost.com's Chris Cillizza that "no ... national 527 with an eye on the presidential election has emerged yet on the Republican side, and there doesn't appear to be significant impetus to form one given McCain's commitment to campaign finance reform." Cillizza added: "The thinking goes that even if a pro-GOP 527 helped McCain win the White House, there would be more anger than thanks from the new president due to his distaste for groups like that." While Cillizza limited his assertion to 527s, other outside conservative groups -- including state Republican Party groups -- have attacked Obama, and McCain has not limited his denunciations to the activities of 527s.

Less than a month prior to the Post's article, the Vets for Freedom political action committee (which is, in fact, also registered under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code) launched two Internet ads attacking Obama over issues related to the war in Iraq. Moreover, in the run-up to two special congressional elections in Louisiana and Mississippi on May 3 and 13, the 501(c)(4) independent group Freedom's Watch ran television ads linking Democratic congressional candidates Rep. Don Cazayoux (LA) and Rep. Travis Childers (MS) to Obama, claiming that Obama and Childers would levy "a $2,600 tax increase" on "many Mississippi families" and stating that Obama and Cazayoux are behind "a big government scheme" for health care that would "cost[] up to $65 billion." In advance of the May 6 North Carolina primary, the state's Republican Party ran an attack ad against Obama.

Additionally, as Media Matters for America has previously noted, Floyd Brown, creator of the infamous Willie Horton ad, released an ad through the National Campaign Fund PAC that attacked Obama.

Despite Cillizza's claim that the "thinking" from those considering independent attack groups "goes that even if a pro-GOP 527 helped McCain win the White House, there would be more anger than thanks from the new president due to his distaste for groups like that," given the opportunity to stop the attacks against Obama, McCain did not do so. When the North Carolina GOP released its attack ad against Obama, McCain denounced the ad but, as Media Matters noted, gave no indication that he intended to force the hand of state GOP officials, even though some of them worked with his campaign. Media Matters has also noted that two McCain supporters and frequent McCain campaign surrogates -- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a general co-chairman of McCain's campaign, and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), a co-chairman of McCain's Connecticut Leadership Team -- served on the Vets for Freedom Policy Board of Advisors. However, they "request[ed] a leave" from their positions the day the group's PAC released the first Obama attack ad, "[d]ue to McCain campaign guidelines" that include the following: "No person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate."

Cillizza's reference to "more anger than thanks" repeats a common theme in the media that McCain strongly disapproves of negative attacks made on his behalf. As some have noted, this image, which the media foster, allows McCain to have it both ways: he can take the moral high ground by denouncing negative attacks even as he reaps their benefits. Indeed, while McCain has spoken out against attack ads by 527 groups and others, he has since stated that he will not "referee" independent organizations, and McCain strategist, Charlie Black, recently told Newsweek, "Look, there's nothing we can do about the 527s."

From the June 20 Washington Post article:

Obama's announcement was not unexpected. Months ago, he began to shift away from an early pledge to "pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."

After securing the Democratic nomination this month, Obama moved quickly to impose his own stringent fundraising restrictions on the Democratic National Committee, ordering it to stop accepting donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees, and he has discouraged his donors from contributing to liberal independent political organizations, called 527 groups, that are expected to hammer McCain in the fall.

"John McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee are fueled by contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs," Obama said in his message to supporters yesterday. "And we've already seen that he's not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations."

To date, no conservative 527 groups have materialized. But Obama portrayed his call as a preemptive strike.

"From the very beginning of this campaign, I have asked my supporters to avoid that kind of unregulated activity and join us in building a new kind of politics -- and you have," Obama said. "... I'm asking you to try to do something that's never been done before."

From Cillizza's June 19 post on washingtonpost.com's The Fix:

Barack Obama's decision to opt out of public financing for the presidential election, the first candidate to ever do so, marks a significant moment in the 2008 general election.

The move, which Obama announced in a video and an e-mail to supporters this morning, means that the presumptive Democratic nominee will be free to raise and spend as much money as he likes in the runup to the November election, rather than limit himself to the $80 million (or so) that would have been available to him if he accepted public financing.

It also means that Obama will open himself up to criticism from Republicans, e.g. the Democrat talks a big game on reform, but his actions don't match his words.

In announcing the decision, Obama sought to cast it as necessary for two reason: First, that Republicans have figured out how to game the current "broken" system to their advantage; and, second, that his grassroots support from small donors has already fundamentally changed the way campaigns are funded in this country.

On the first point, Obama said: "The public financing of presidential elections as it exists today is broken, and we face opponents who've become masters at gaming this broken system. ... we've already seen that he's not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations."

His point is simple: John McCain and his Republican allies are only giving lip service to playing within the rules while doing everything they can to bend them. By raising the specter of 527s in his statement, Obama is seeking to subtly remind Democrats of the damage done to John Kerry by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in the 2004 election. It's worth noting, however, that no such national 527 with an eye on the presidential election has emerged yet on the Republican side, and there doesn't appear to be significant impetus to form one given McCain's commitment to campaign finance reform. (The thinking goes that even if a pro-GOP 527 helped McCain win the White House, there would be more anger than thanks from the new president due to his distaste for groups like that.)