In the lead sentence of a front-page January 30 New York Times article headlined “Outside Groups Aid Obama, Their Vocal Critic,” reporter Leslie Wayne asserted that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is “benefiting from millions of dollars being spent outside campaign finance rules,” suggesting that the organizations she identified in the article are not subject to campaign finance regulations or, worse, are violating them. Wayne cited four groups whose work she said benefits Obama. Of those, “the California group, Vote Hope," the labor union UNITE HERE, and the “plumbers' and pipefitters' union,” the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, are political action committees or have PACs, and, as such, must comply with campaign finance restrictions. Wayne offered no evidence that they are not in compliance with those restrictions.

For example, Vote Hope is a PAC, contributions to which are capped by law at $5,000 per person. Wayne offered no evidence to support her suggestion that it does not comply with these restrictions. Wayne also reported that Obama has “lined up support from unions representing plumbers and pipefitters as well as hospitality and garment workers.” However, while she noted that “spending by their political action committees must be reported to federal regulators,” she did not report that, as PACs, they must comply with contribution limits. As with Vote Hope, Wayne offered no evidence that the groups were operating “outside campaign finance rules,” despite her assertion in the first paragraph of the article that these groups were doing so.

Media Matters for America previously noted that the lead sentence of an August 6, 2007, post about Vote Hope at the Times politics blog, The Caucus, asked, “Have some of Senator Barack Obama's supporters figured out how to give more than the $2,300 legal maximum to back their candidate?” The article's claim -- that Vote Hope donors who have already given the maximum donation directly to Obama's campaign are exceeding legal limits “to back their candidate” -- was false; again, they are permitted by law to give up to $5,000 separately to 527 PACs, which can back candidates. Moreover, whatever contributions donors make to non-PAC 527s do not exceed the “legal maximum” because the law does not impose a maximum on those contributions. Likewise, an August 8, 2007, San Francisco Chronicle article on Vote Hope by staff writer Lance Williams falsely claimed that the organization “rake[s] in donations in excess of what is allowed under tough federal campaign finance laws.” The article's headline asserted, “Obama's supporters get around money limit.”

From the January 30 Times article:

After months of denouncing the influence of special-interest money in politics, Senator Barack Obama is nonetheless entering a critical phase of the presidential campaign benefiting from millions of dollars being spent outside campaign finance rules.

Mr. Obama has repudiated a California group, Vote Hope, that is working on his behalf. But it has pressed on and, along with a sister organization called PowerPac.org, is planning to spend up to $4 million promoting him in California and conducting voter registration drives aimed at blacks in 11 Southern states.

The group has already run radio advertisements with local ministers in South Carolina. New advertisements, some for television, have been prepared for California, one with the rap star Common and others focusing on black and Latino voters.

[...]

Mr. Obama has lined up support from unions representing plumbers and pipefitters, as well as hospitality and garment workers. One union, Unite Here, plans to mobilize its 450,000 members through direct mail advertisements, phone banks and door-to-door visits in Super Tuesday states. It will also continue efforts, begun in Nevada, to run pro-Obama television and radio spots, many in Spanish and aimed at voters in California. The plumbers' and pipefitters' union, which has 340,000 members, said it was working with the Obama campaign to get out its membership and was encouraging members to donate time as Obama campaign volunteers.

Unlike 527s, unions can coordinate some activities with campaigns, and spending by their political action committees must be reported to federal regulators.

The efforts by Vote Hope pose a particular challenge to Mr. Obama's campaign, given his repeated criticism of Mrs. Clinton and former Senator John Edwards for having accepted similar help.

Referring to Mr. Edwards, Mr. Obama said in December in the heat of the Iowa campaign, “John said yesterday he didn't believe in these 527s.” Then he added, “You can't say yesterday you don't believe in it, and today three-quarters of a million dollars is being spent for you.”

The two California groups supporting Mr. Obama, Vote Hope, which is a 527, and PowerPac.org, which is a nonprofit group, are both creations of Steve Phillips, a longtime social activist and lawyer who founded PowerPac.org five years ago.

“We have a chance to make an impact,” Mr. Phillips said. “There are not the resources within the Obama campaign to organize. You need a dedicated organization with a dedicated revenue stream.”

Mr. Phillips donated $95,000 to the effort. He is also the son-in-law of Herbert Sandler, a billionaire banker and major donor to the Democratic Party and liberal causes. Vote Hope plans to spend about $1 million supporting Mr. Obama in California, while PowerPac.org has budgeted $2 million to $3 million for the nonpartisan voter registration drive in the South, help that could not come at a better time.

“These groups are critical to the campaigns,” said Kenneth Gross, a campaign finance lawyer who advises Democratic candidates. “The campaigns are spread so thin on Feb. 5, in terms of geography and television coverage. There is never enough money to do what you want. So these groups can step in and play a critical role.”

So long as unions are politicking among their own members, they can coordinate their efforts with individual candidates and campaigns. While rules may vary according to the structure of the group, many outside organizations, like nonprofit groups and 527s, cannot coordinate their activities with a campaign. Some of these groups can receive donations in unlimited amounts, or in amounts that exceed campaign finance limits, and with looser disclosure rules.

[...]

The Obama campaign says it would rather the money come directly to the campaign itself.

“There is much that you and others associated with Vote Hope can accomplish for the Obama candidacy within his official organization,” the Obama campaign said in a Dec. 28 letter to Mr. Phillips. “An independent effort outside that organization undermines the senator's message.”

Among unions, Tom Snyder, the political director of Unite Here, which represents a number of groups including hospitality and garment workers, said the group would be sending a big “positive pro-Obama” message in Super Tuesday states, just as it did in Nevada and South Carolina. The group's political action committee has about $660,000 on hand for its efforts.

“We plan to communicate with our members and turn them out,” Mr. Snyder said.

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