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untanglingwebs
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"The third-party groups tend to dish out the nastiest stuff.
Tops among them were the Genesee County Democratic Party ($1.8 million), which has been savaging Democratic state House Speaker Andy Dillon for weeks, and Americans for Job Security ($752,000), which has targeted U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra with attacks over his alleged penchant for spending."
Brace yourself: Campaign ads could get nasty
Secrecy often part of attacks
BY DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
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Cover their ears and put the kids to bed.
The primary campaign season will climax this weekend in an orgy of last-minute TV ads sponsored by the candidates, their allies and anonymous attack dogs in an effort to sway Tuesday's election. Much of it won't be pretty.
A tally compiled Friday by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network shows that the primary campaigns of the two Democrats and five Republicans running for governor and their supporters had spent $10.6 million as they entered the final turn.
Nearly $4 million of that came from third-party groups whose identities were often obscure and who almost never disclose their source of financing.
The third-party groups tend to dish out the nastiest stuff.
Tops among them were the Genesee County Democratic Party ($1.8 million), which has been savaging Democratic state House Speaker Andy Dillon for weeks, and Americans for Job Security ($752,000), which has targeted U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra with attacks over his alleged penchant for spending.
The top-spending candidates were Republicans Rick Snyder ($2.3 million) and Mike Cox ($1.9 million).
3rd-party ads drawing criticism
At least five of the candidates for governor -- Democrat Dillon and Republicans Mike Bouchard, Cox, Hoekstra and Snyder -- have heavy advertising buys scheduled over the weekend, according to records compiled by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. And Democrat Virg Bernero continues to benefit from expensive efforts on his behalf by the Genesee County Democratic Committee.
Also spending heavily in the campaign's final days are other groups -- some identifiable, some opaque -- often on attack ads.
Finance Network Director Rich Robinson said Friday that half or more of all the TV advertising in the governor's race in the last week has come from third-party groups.
Robinson is critical of the third-party ads, which, if they do not specifically advocate the election or defeat of a candidate, are not required to disclose donors. "The interest groups and individuals who pay for these ads are making a grand display of contempt for the voters' right to transparent politics," he said.
Candidates targeted by the indirect attack ads accused rivals of orchestrating the efforts. On Friday, a new ad attacking Snyder, who previously had been untouched, and Hoekstra began airing on Detroit stations. It was paid for by a group calling itself Michigan Taxpayer Alert. Cox and his supporters had previously focused their barbs on Hoekstra, the campaign's front-runner until recently.
In issuing his report Friday, Robinson called for legislation to require noncandidate advertisers to disclose the funding sources. But Tom Shields, a veteran Republican political and news media consultant, said such requirements are unlikely to work.
"Part of the problem is the limits on the level of contributions to candidates," Shields said. "They're set so low, it forces people with resources to look for other options."
Individuals may contribute a maximum of $3,400 for a candidate for governor.
Shields agreed that the anonymous third-party advertisers often produce the nastiest commercials.
But 2010 "has been pretty mild if you ask me," he said. "The only really personal stuff has been about Cox and the Manoogian ... and a lot of that hasn't been commercials."
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sun Aug 01, 2010 6:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Sat Jul 31, 2010 1:55 pm |
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00SL2
F L I N T O I D
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| Watch the nastiness backfire at the polls. |
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Sat Jul 31, 2010 2:23 pm |
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
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News from MCFN: 07/30/2010
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Rich Robinson
robinson@mcfn.org
(517) 482-7198 or (517) 896-2246
Gub TV: $10.6M; Unaccountable: $3.9M
LANSING: -- Television advertising for Michigan’s gubernatorial primary election totals $10.6 million. Of that total, $3.9 million paid for candidate-focused “issue” advertising which is not reported in the state’s campaign finance disclosure system.
Data were collected by the Michigan Campaign Finance Network from the public files of the state’s broadcasters and cable systems July 28th through July 30th.
Issue ads characterize the suitability or unsuitability of a candidate for office, but do not directly exhort a vote. Therefore, under the prevailing interpretation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, they are not considered to be campaign expenditures and there is no requirement to report them. This also means there is not requirement to report who gave the ads’ sponsors the money to pay for them.
“As viewers watch political ads over the next five days, they should pay close attention to the disclaimers that identify the ads’ sponsors,” said Rich Robinson of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network. “Unless an ad says it is sponsored by a candidate’s committee, we will never know who paid for the ad.”
“The interest groups and individuals who pay for these ads are making a grand display of contempt for the voters’ right to transparent politics,” Robinson said, “and the good citizens of this state shouldn’t stand for it.”
“On Monday morning, Ron Weiser and Mark Brewer should gather the leaders of these groups for a press conference and demand that they give a full accounting of the sources who laid out $4 million. And if they won’t do it on Monday, when voters could still consider the information before they vote, they should do it on Wednesday. And whoever wins the Tuesday primaries should announce immediately what they plan to do to clean up our stealth campaigns.”
Gubernatorial Television Advertising, 2010 Primaries
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts research and public education on money in Michigan politics.
Contact
Rich Robinson
robinson@mcfn.org
(517) 482-7198 or (517) 896-2246 |
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Sat Jul 31, 2010 2:59 pm |
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
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News from MCFN: 06/10/2010
Share | Contact
Rich Robinson
robinson@mcfn.org
(517) 482-7198 or (517) 896-2246
Invisible hands pull strings in Michigan campaigns
Transparency and accountability are unknown ideals in state campaigns
This opinion was published in the Detroit Free Press on June 10, 2010 under the title, 'Pay special attention to non-advocacy spending'
By Rich Robinson
In the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned precedent to allow corporations to make independent expenditures in election campaigns on a narrow 5-4 vote.
Less noted was Part IV of the Citizens United decision, where the Court ruled 8-1 that corporate spenders in election campaigns can be required to disclose the identities of their contributors and the amounts they give. The Court’s opinion said, “The First Amendment protects political speech; and disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in a proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages.”
So, what is the state of campaign finance disclosure in Michigan? In a word: pathetic.
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce recently asked the Department of State to make a declaratory ruling on disclosure requirements for its newly won right to engage in ‘express advocacy’ – those campaign communications that explicitly exhort a vote for or against a candidate.
The Department told the Chamber that it cannot solicit or accept a contribution from any entity that is given for the purpose of paying for campaign express advocacy. But if a sympathetic-minded person or corporation just happens to give the Chamber a million dollars without saying it is “purposed” for express advocacy, then the Chamber can use the million bucks to pay for TV ads that tell you how to vote and it will only be required to report that the source of the funds was its general treasury. It doesn’t have to reveal who contributed the money.
Furthermore, if the Chamber, or one of the political parties, chooses to buy television ads that say, “Kilgore has our values and he’s fighting for us,” or “Call Kilgore and ask him why he hates the elderly,” the sponsor of the ads doesn’t even have to report that it spent money. Under the prevailing interpretation of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, an electoral communication that doesn’t explicitly tell you how to vote is not an expenditure.
A contribution is not a contribution unless it is purposed. An expenditure is not an expenditure unless it has magic words of express advocacy. That is not a Lewis Carroll fantasy. That is the operational interpretation of our law.
Over the past decade the Chamber and the political parties have spent more than $45 million for campaign television ads that carefully avoided the language of express advocacy. They reported nothing about that spending or the contributions that enabled it. I know the scope of this undisclosed spending because I collect the data from the public files of our state’s television broadcasters and cable systems.
Most of the money in the 2008 Michigan Supreme Court campaign was off the books. In the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, nearly $20 million was off the books. If you remember any TV ad from one of those campaigns, it is very likely that it wasn’t financially disclosed.
Why does this matter? Because campaign spending in a judicial election may compromise the impartiality of a judge. Because interest groups that pay for election campaigns expect to have their policy agenda addressed.
Citizens have a right to know whose money is driving political processes so they can properly evaluate the conduct of public officials.
This is not a matter of Republicans against Democrats. It is a matter of interest groups and political parties against citizens. Big-money donors’ desire for anonymity pitted against citizens’ need to know whose money is paying for election campaigns.
Transparency and accountability are progressive values and they are conservative values. In Michigan politics, transparency and accountability are an unknown ideal.
We need a new political culture. We need an end to the old shell game where the political masters of the universe arrogantly condemn the electorate to ignorance.
To legislators: If you want trust from an angry, disaffected electorate, write serious new campaign finance disclosure laws that cover all campaign ads.
To the angry electorate: If you want to take back your country, this is where to draw the line. This may be democracy’s last stand against the invisible hands that pull the strings that make politics inexplicably polarized and dysfunctional.
We’ll have better government when we have transparent politics. Not before.
The Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts research and public education on money in Michigan politics.
Contact
Rich Robinson
robinson@mcfn.org
(517) 482-7198 or (517) 896-2246 |
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Sat Jul 31, 2010 3:01 pm |
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untanglingwebs
F L I N T O I D
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Michigan Truth Squad exposes Genesee County dems
Genesee County Democrats - Wall Street
On July 23, 2010, in Democrats, Genesee County Democrats, Michigan Governor, by Michigan Truth Squad
Who: Genesee County Democrats
Featured Campaign Material: TV ad
Truth Squad Call: Foul
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Download Transcript
NOTE TO READERS: THIS TRUTH SQUAD ANALYSIS, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON FRIDAY, JULY 23, WAS REVISED AND CORRECTED ON MONDAY, JULY 26. PLEASE SEE THE CORRECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS ANALYSIS.
QUESTIONABLE STATEMENTS:
"Virg Bernero. The one fighter for jobs. As mayor, Bernero got it done. Half a billion in new investment. Six thousand jobs."
The city of Lansing has created 5,311 jobs since 2006, the year Virg Bernero took office, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corp. If you count retained jobs (as the MEDC does in job creation announcements), there's an additional 1,722 jobs, which would bring the total to 7,033 jobs. The Lansing Economic Development Corp. home page only claims to have created "5,000 jobs and counting." Bernero would hardly be alone in the effort, as he worked with the MEDC, LEDC, city officials and the Lansing City Council to attract projects and award tax credits. Bernero's office claims there has been $570 million in private investment, including $177.5 million in incentives.
Looking closer at the LEDC's 2006 report, eight of the 33 projects started in 2005, before Bernero took office on Jan. 1, 2006. Those projects created 1,128 jobs and were worth $59.8 million in private investment.
However, Lansing's economy has suffered over the last four years, as has that of the entire state of Michigan. That means fewer people are working in Lansing now than did when Bernero took office. The Lansing-East Lansing metropolitan area's unemployment rate was 5.8 percent in 2006 and rose to 10.8 percent in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for April 2010, for which the last full month statistics are available, was 10.5 percent. The number of employed in the Lansing area was 236,348 in 2006. That's down to 220,007 in 2010 – 16,341 fewer people with jobs. In April 2010, 221,179 people in the Lansing area were employed.
Is Bernero the "one fighter for jobs?" No. House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Township), Sen. Tom George (R-Kalamazoo), Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard and U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Holland) all have said they've created jobs in their private sector experience. In the Legislature, Dillon and George have voted for dozens of tax incentives aimed at creating jobs.
"Invest in job training, education the engine for jobs. Fair trade, protecting American jobs. Main Street, not Wall Street."
These are tenets of Bernero's campaign. He supports "stable" funding for K-12 education, although he doesn't mention job training specifically on his campaign website. He has regularly pushed for fair trade and frequently goes on cable TV news to make that point.
"Andy Dillon? His investment firm took over an American parts plant. Dillon's firm forced pay cuts, then cut workers. Dillon's firm made huge profits, and workers paid the price. (On screen: A business card for Wynnchurch Capital listing Dillon as managing director followed by the words, "Cut Pay. Cut Workers.")
Dillon served as a managing director at Wynnchurch from 2001 to 2004. He has denied that he's downsized or shipped jobs overseas. Dillon spokesman T.J. Bucholz has told the Truth Squad and other media that Dillon's work at Wynnchurch was limited to recommending the company buy three companies: Android LLC, ICG Castings and Peake Plastics. Dillon was not involved in acquiring or running AxleTech International Inc., which Bernero has cited for cutting wages and outsourcing jobs. While it's true that Peake Plastics laid off 200 workers in 2003, Bucholz said Dillon had no role in running any of the three companies after Wynnchurch bought them. Both ICG and Android have laid off employees since Dillon left Wynnchurch.
OVERALL IMPRESSION:
This is the first TV ad for Bernero of the campaign, although it's done by the Genesee County Democrats. The point is to establish Bernero as the candidate of working people as opposed to Dillon. More than that, it hits at the idea that Bernero is the only true Democrat in the race, as he's for Main Street, unlike Dillon, who's portrayed as a Wall Street stooge.
Dillon’s relations with the Democratic Party have been a prominent question in this campaign.
As Associated Press recently noted, “The Michigan AFL-CIO is putting its political muscle behind Bernero. It says Dillon has pushed for too many concessions or policy changes that could lessen public employee benefits during his tenure as House speaker. Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney describes Dillon as ‘practically a Republican.’”
Also, in an appearance on the Off the Record television show in January, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer declined to answer the question of whether Dillon is even a Democrat. The question was posed by Lansing political reporter (and Truth Squad referee) Susan Demas.
Demas: “Some labor types have questioned if Andy Dillon is a Democrat. Do you think he is?”
Brewer: “Again, that’s just grist for the primary mill. I have to stay neutral in this whole thing.”
Demas: “Is he a Democrat?”
Brewer: Andy Dillon is going to have to make the case, like all of our other candidates, why he should be our nominee. I can’t, and I won’t, take positions pro or con on these various issues with our candidates.”
Demas: “On his party affiliation?”
Brewer: “That’s for the voters to decide whether they want to pick him as our nominee.”
In contrast, later in the same show, Brewer said he thought Democratic candidate Virg Bernero “has got some outstanding traits.” But Brewer also stated, “I’d be comfortable with any one of them” among numerous candidates and potential candidates in the Democratic Primary.
Bernero gives himself a bit too much credit on creating jobs in Lansing, including more than 1,000 jobs created for projects starting before he took office. And he gives Dillon a bit too much credit in his work at Wynnchurch, which was for three years. He says he didn't run the companies Bernero has cited for cutting wages and workers. Neither the mayor nor his allies have produced a smoking gun that Dillon was the one pulling the trigger at those businesses.
MICHIGAN TRUTH SQUAD CALL: Foul.
Foul for claiming Dillon cut pay and workers and overstating Bernero's job creation record.
CORRECTION
The Truth Squad’s original published analysis stated the following: “This is the first TV ad for Bernero of the campaign, although it's done by the Genesee County Democrats. The point is to establish Bernero as the candidate of working people as opposed to Dillon. More than that, it hits at the idea that Bernero is the only true Democrat in the race, as he's for Main Street, unlike Dillon, who's portrayed as a Wall Street stooge. This is in keeping with what AFL-CIO of Michigan head Mark Gaffney, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer and Bernero have all said."
The Truth Squad analysis concludes that the Genesee County Democrats’ ad portrays Dillon as a Wall Street stooge. But the Truth Squad has no evidence that Gaffney or Brewer have referred to Dillon as a “Wall Street stooge.”
Gaffney has questioned Dillon’s party affiliation, though the Truth Squad analysis could have used better links to source that assertion, such as this Associated Press story which is now linked above in the analysis.
As documented in the revised analysis above, Brewer declined earlier this year to acknowledge Dillon as a Democrat. But the Truth Squad has no evidence that Brewer has referred to Bernero specifically as “the only true Democrat in the race.”
Download Michigan Truth Squad Analysis .pdf
Tagged with: Democrat • Democratic races • Genesee County Democrats • Michigan governor's race
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