American Leadership Project

Of course, the Clinton campaign's efforts could be dwarfed by a new political group being set up by Clinton backers, the American Leadership Project. It isreportedly seeking $10 million for pro-Clinton ads. That group will not be subject to the $2,300 limit on donations to federal political campaigns and is certain to ignore the $5,000 limit on donations to committees involved in federal elections.

Controversy[edit]

Spending[edit]

The group had been rumored to plan to spend around $10 million on ads in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the lead up to those U.S. state's2008 Democratic primaries.^[5] The group actually aired $833,000 worth of pro-Clinton television ads in Texas and Ohio and had $300,000 left in the bank according to FEC filings on March 5.^[6]

As a 527, ALP is required to disclose their donors quarterly to the IRS and have done so.^[7] Because they engage in electioneering communications, they are also required to disclose their donors and expenditures to the FEC within 24 hours of new communications.^[8]

Questions of legality[edit]

Jason Kinney, a California political consultant that helped develop the group, said it relies on "a new and developing area of the law, but we've taken every step and are as confident as we can be that we are adhering to all of the regulations." Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a campaign finance reform group, said of ALP, "This pop-up 527 group clearly has been created to spend unlimited soft money to influence the presidential election. As far as the duck test goes: It looks like a campaign ad; it sounds like a campaign ad; it's a campaign ad."^[2]

Subodh Chandra, a lawyer in Ohio and Obama supporter filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, calling on the them to open an investigation, shut down the organization and seek criminal penalties against its directors and donors.^[9] He said the new organization allows Mrs. Clinton's backers to "cheat the system" by paying for their own ads for Mrs. Clinton even through they have already donated the maximum $2,300 allowed by law to her campaign.^[9] It took three years for the FEC to settle similar complaints lodged against independent political entities operating in the 2004 election.^[9]

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Mike Gravel filed his own lawsuit against the ALP in Ohio federal court, requesting that the organization be barred from airing a television ad in Ohio before the Ohio primary.^[10]

Ads during Texas primary[edit]

The group premiered two ads during the Texas Democratic primary comparing the opposing candidate's health care plans. Factcheck.org, who was quoted in the first ad, claimed it misrepresented what they had said about Clinton's plan. The group also criticized the second ad for selectively quoting an editorial from the Washington Post authored by Steven Pearlstein in a way that made the quote appear to be the paper's own editorial opinion.^[11]