Jolt
Friday Jolt: Commission Says Dismiss Complaint Against Conservative Group
Today's big loser: The Washington State Democrats.
The Public Disclosure Commission recommended that the PDC board dismiss the state Democratic Party's complaint against Americans for Prosperity Washington, the local group affiliated with the Koch Brothers' Tea Party sugar daddy Americans for Prosperity.
The Democrats had complained that AFPW did hit mailings against incumbent Democratic state legislators without registering as a political committee or disclosing its donors. Two of the targeted state senators, Randy Gordon and Eric Oemig, went on to lose.[pullquote]Targeting 13 specific Democratic candidates in a series of 2010 election races for raising taxes is coordinated political carpet bombing (never mind advertising.)[/pullquote]
After a year long investigation, the commission staff recommended dismissing the case because they found that AFPW didn't fit the definition of a political committee (they didn't receive contributions to oppose or support specific candidates) and that the mailers did not constitute political independent expenditures (because they didn't urge a specific vote) nor electioneering (because the cost of the mailings didn't exceed the $5,000 threshold).
Frankly, the decision is hard to believe. You'd have to be dumber than one of Herman Cain's foreign policy advisers not to see that a series of AFPW mailers, first reported by PubliCola in the fall of 2010, targeting 13 specific Democratic candidates by name in a series of 2010 election races for raising taxes is coordinated political carpet bombing (never mind advertising).
Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz (who filed one of the complaints against AFPW) issued the following statement:
I do buy the PDC's call on the low-cost, though; the Democrats had made grand claims that the mailings cost $350,000. That seemed like a stretch.
However, it's a bigger stretch to argue that the batch of mailers was not about specific votes in the 2010 election. Start here for our coverage of the AFPW case.
The Public Disclosure Commission recommended that the PDC board dismiss the state Democratic Party's complaint against Americans for Prosperity Washington, the local group affiliated with the Koch Brothers' Tea Party sugar daddy Americans for Prosperity.
The Democrats had complained that AFPW did hit mailings against incumbent Democratic state legislators without registering as a political committee or disclosing its donors. Two of the targeted state senators, Randy Gordon and Eric Oemig, went on to lose.[pullquote]Targeting 13 specific Democratic candidates in a series of 2010 election races for raising taxes is coordinated political carpet bombing (never mind advertising.)[/pullquote]
After a year long investigation, the commission staff recommended dismissing the case because they found that AFPW didn't fit the definition of a political committee (they didn't receive contributions to oppose or support specific candidates) and that the mailers did not constitute political independent expenditures (because they didn't urge a specific vote) nor electioneering (because the cost of the mailings didn't exceed the $5,000 threshold).
Frankly, the decision is hard to believe. You'd have to be dumber than one of Herman Cain's foreign policy advisers not to see that a series of AFPW mailers, first reported by PubliCola in the fall of 2010, targeting 13 specific Democratic candidates by name in a series of 2010 election races for raising taxes is coordinated political carpet bombing (never mind advertising).
Washington State Democratic Party Chair Dwight Pelz (who filed one of the complaints against AFPW) issued the following statement:
It is a travesty that the PDC staff took over a year to assess whether the unethical, behind-closed doors actions of the Koch Brother’s backed AFP-WA violated state law. AFP-WA was given a free-pass to influence the 2010 election cycle without a word from the state agency that is supposed to serve as our campaign finance watch-dog.
Karl Rove, the Koch Brothers, and countless other right-wing organizations are planning to pour hundreds of millions in shady money into the 2012 election cycle. The PDC staff has just issued a road map as to how they can funnel their dirty politics into Washington State.
I do buy the PDC's call on the low-cost, though; the Democrats had made grand claims that the mailings cost $350,000. That seemed like a stretch.
However, it's a bigger stretch to argue that the batch of mailers was not about specific votes in the 2010 election. Start here for our coverage of the AFPW case.
