ShareThisBy TOM HUMPHREY
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
A group funded by a Texan who was also the leading financer of "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" has become the first independent political organization to enter the TV advertising war in Tennessee's U.S. Senate campaign.
The Free Enterprise Fund, a "527" political organization in Washington, D.C., began airing ads in Middle and West Tennessee on Tuesday that attack Democrat Harold Ford Jr. for "living it up on campaign cash but pushing higher taxes for Tennessee families."
The Ford campaign promptly denounced the ad and the organization. A spokesman for Republican nominee Bob Corker said the group "has its facts right" but that the campaign had nothing to do with the commercial.
The 527s, political advocacy groups named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service code that authorized their creation, are not officially affiliated with any campaign or political party _ though typically they help one side or the other.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth was perhaps the most famous of 527s, airing ads nationwide in 2004 that attacked the Vietnam War record of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the leading funder of that organization, which subsequently changed its name to Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, was Bob Perry, owner of a Houston home construction company. He is listed as giving the group $4.45 million in 2004.
Perry has given the Free Enterprise Fund $1 million this month, a donation of $500,000 on Oct. 3 and another $500,000 on Oct. 5, according to Political Money Line, an independent organization that monitors federal campaign finance reports.
That made up the bulk of the group's recent contributions, which totaled $1.185 million in its most recent report, according to Political Money Line. The amount spent on the Tennessee ad has not been reported and no spokesman for Free Enterprise Fund could be reached for comment.
The entry of 527s into the heated Tennessee race raises the prospect of pushing what is already record spending in a statewide race to new heights in the final weeks of the campaign.
Ford and Corker, together, have already reported spending $22 million on their campaigns so far.
Three groups affiliated with political parties _ the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Republican National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee _ have also spent substantial sums on TV ads in the race. Those figures have not been reported but clearly involve millions of dollars.
The 527 group's Web site, www.enterprisepac.org, says it is "an advocate of public policies including tax relief and tax reform, fiscal restraint, limited government and a pro-growth economic agenda." The Free Enterprise Fund endorsed Van Hilleary over Corker in the Republican primary, but made no expenditure on Hilleary's behalf.
Michael Powell, senior advisor to the Ford campaign, criticized the organization.
"This is not a group that is interested in telling the truth. This is a group interested in scaring voters and slandering Congressman Ford," he said.
The ad follows a line of criticism of Ford similar to that used by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has christened the candidate "fancy Ford" for supposedly lavish spending from campaign funds. The three examples cited in the ad are "luxurious five-star hotels," "fancy designer Armani suit" and "fine Davidoff cigars."
"Swift boat politics has no place in Tennessee," said Powell. "By embracing this kind of stuff, Bob Corker proves yet again that truth is not important to him."
Corker spokesman Todd Womack said the campaign has no contact or control with the Free Enterprise Fund and had not seen the ad until Tuesday. But he said "their facts appear to be accurate."
