Source:
Washington PostA new group financed by a Texas billionaire and organized by some of the same political operatives and donors behind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign against Sen. John F. Kerry in 2004 plans to begin running television ads attacking Barack Obama, a signal that independent groups may play a larger role than anticipated in the closing days of the presidential race.
The American Issues Project has amassed a multimillion-dollar fund, and the group is putting the final touches on an eleventh-hour campaign targeting the Democratic presidential nominee, sources said.
"We expect to be doing both issues and express advocacy between now and November and beyond," said Christian Pinkston, a spokesman for the group.
The effort could mark a sharp turn in what has been an unusually quiet year for outside political groups. At this point in 2004, such groups had already spent about $100 million dollars on television commercials attacking Kerry (D-Mass.) and President Bush, but they have devoted $8 million to ads so far in this election cycle.
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At the outset of the general election, both Obama and Republican nominee John McCain called on outside groups to stay on the sidelines, hoping to steer funds to their own campaigns and party committees. Several initial attempts to organize independent organizations for the 2008 presidential contest fizzled early on. But as the back-and-forth has grown more intense in recent weeks, both campaigns have signaled that their opposition to such efforts is softening.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/13/AR2008091302270.html?hpid=topnews
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