The Strategy Money and Endorsements Gore Bush Campaign Strategy and Tone Advertising Who's Leading in the Polls Political Communication Lab., Stanford University Money and Endorsements Washington Post June 6, 2000; Page A06 Bush Campaign Says Gore Is Breaking His Promise to Avoid Use of Soft-Money Ads (Excerpts) By TERRY M. NEAL George W. Bush's campaign yesterday accused Vice President Gore of breaking a pledge to reject the use of campaign "soft money" to finance issue ads on his behalf. Not that there are any such ads on the air supporting the Democrat. But there have been reports that the Democratic National Committee is planning to spend millions of dollars to air Gore issue and biographical ads. In March, Gore said he would ask the DNC and outside pro- Democratic organizations not to use soft money--large contributions by individuals, businesses and labor--for ad purchases. He asked Bush to take the same anti-soft money pledge. Bush rejected the offer, calling it a phony campaign ploy. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday the Bush campaign would consider the DNC ads a violation of the pledge and another sign that Gore would do anything to be president. "That pledge was nothing more than an attempt to claim the mantle of John McCain and cloak himself in reformist garb," Fleischer said. "Now that that hasn't worked, he's changed his clothes once again. It makes you wonder if there is anything he really stands for." Gore said he would not be breaking his pledge since he already has Political Communication Lab., Stanford University been under assault by issue ads paid for by pro-Republican groups, including one attacking his position on missile defense. "Clearly there have been such advertisements on the other side," Gore said on his campaign plane last night. He said Republicans have been "exploiting" a legal loophole that permits Bush allies to run supportive issues ads. (…) Political Communication Lab., Stanford University Boston Globe June 7, 2000; Page A1 Democrats Set To Launch ‘Soft Money’ Ad Campaign (Excerpts) By MICHAEL KRANISH WASHINGTON - The Democratic National Committee plans to launch a massive television advertising campaign today, financed with millions of dollars in "soft money" donations, in an effort to rebuild Vice President Al Gore's image. But the move immediately led to Republican charges that Gore was violating a campaign pledge not to initiate the controversial form of advertising. The action is expected to unleash an unprecedented torrent of advertising from both the Republican and Democratic parties aimed at influencing the presidential campaign. The ads are financed with unlimited, unregulated contributions known as soft money that often exceed $100,000, in contrast to the strictly regulated $1,000-per-person donations from individuals given to presidential campaigns. "This is going to be an explosive use of soft money that will break all past records," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, which advocates campaign-finance overhaul, estimating that this year's expenditure of soft money will double the 1996 campaign total. Wertheimer said he agreed with Republican complaints that Gore appeared to be breaking a campaign promise, but he said the larger point is that both parties will now start spending tens of millions of dollars in soft money that was never intended to be used in a presidential campaign. Today's move by the DNC could cause political problems for Gore because of a pledge he made March 15. In several television Political Communication Lab., Stanford University appearances, Gore said he would prevent the DNC from using soft money on advertisements "unless and until the Republican Party does." Gore, appearing yesterday on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America," said the Republican Party has "gone first. They did months ago." Gore did not provide a specific example, but his aides have said for weeks that the Gore proposal was void because independent groups that back Bush have spent money on advertisements attacking Gore. For example, a group called Shape the Debate has paid for commercials that call Gore a hypocrite for backing campaign-finance overhaul after holding what it called an illegal fund-raiser at a Buddhist temple. But Republican Party Chairman Jim Nicholson said the Republican National Committee has not spent any soft money on advertisements, and he said it would be illegal for the RNC to try to stop independent groups such as Shape the Debate from airing its ads. "We have not spent one thin dime on soft money ads," Nicholson said. "This is pathetic. He has been vice president for 7 1/2 years, and now he is trying to reintroduce himself, this time spending money in violation of a pledge he took." Nicholson said the RNC is looking at "all of our options" and hasn't decided whether to spend its $30 million soft money war chest on advertisements. George W. Bush, the all-but-certain Republican nominee, said at a Georgia campaign appearance: "It sounds like to me they're laying out a smoke screen to provide cover for Al Gore to break his promise." Gore spokesman Doug Hattaway acknowledged, "I'm not aware of any soft money ads by the RNC." But Hattaway said that when Gore made his proposal to Bush in March via e-mail, the vice president specifically included ads by Political Communication Lab., Stanford University Republican-oriented groups as well as the RNC. When Gore outlined his proposal in television interviews, however, he referred to soft money spent by the political parties. When Gore was asked on CNN whether he would instruct the DNC "to take the lead in this regardless of what the Republicans do," Gore said, "Oh, sure." Given the seeming disparity between Gore's televised comments and his e-mail, the Gore campaign yesterday said the vice president's e-mail proposal had been violated by Republican groups. "They (the RNC) have these front groups spending millions of dollars on attack ads," Hattaway said. Bush did not accept or reject Gore's March proposal. But Bush was criticized during the primaries when some Texas backers launched a $2 million ad campaign that attacked Senator John McCain's environmental record. McCain filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission about the ads. "Bush does not come to this with clean hands," Wertheimer said. Bush said at the time that he had nothing to do with the ads and was not responsible for them. (…) Political Communication Lab., Stanford University Daily News (New York) June 7, 2000; Page 26 Tax Loophole to Unleash Blizzard of Political Ads By HELEN KENNEDY WASHINGTON - If you plan to watch any TV this fall, make sure you keep the remote control nearby at all times. Because if you thought political ads were annoying before, you ain't seen nothin' yet. A newly discovered loophole in the tax laws has produced a presidential race awash in secret political cash - millions and millions of clandestine dollars - and most of it will be used to buy TV ads that threaten to eat up much of the airwaves after Labor Day. "Politicians generally go on vacation when the election is over," said Larry Makinson, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group. "After this Election Day, the entire country is going to want to go on vacation." Fueling the ad flood is the discovery of a tax loophole that allows anyone with a lot of money to bypass campaign-finance restrictions by setting up a tax-exempt front group with an innocuous name - say, Club for Growth or Coalition to Protect Americans Now - to air political spots. The only rule is that they can't specifically say "Vote for Candidate X" or "Defeat Candidate Y." Saying "Candidate X is a thieving child-molester" is perfectly fine, however. They also aren't supposed to coordinate with a particular candidate, but the legal definition of "coordinate" is hopelessly fuzzy. Once a 527 group - named after the loophole, Section 527 of the U.S. Tax Code - is set up, millions can be funneled through it, avoiding the restrictions that govern regular political donations. That means anyone - Political Communication Lab., Stanford University conglomerates, secretive billionaires, rich pals of candidates, foreign governments or even crime syndicates, such as the Cali cartel or the Mafia - can anonymously influence the outcome of the election. "We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on national security every year, and for the cost of a few Scud missiles, someone could come in and disrupt our elections anonymously - and do it all legally," Makinson said. The dodge was discovered last year by two left-wing groups, the Sierra Club and Peace Action, which set up 527 committees to fund ads pushing the environment and disarmament. But the right wing soon caught on. Now, new groups - most of them unaffiliated with known organizations and most of them conservative - are popping up every day, according to the Center for Public Integrity, another watchdog group. During the GOP primary, dozens of 527 ads trashed candidates John McCain and Steve Forbes, including a notorious anti-McCain spot aired in New York by Republicans for Clean Air - actually two supporters of Texas Gov. George W. Bush. The Democratic National Committee yesterday accused the Bush campaign of coordinating with those stealth groups, and it called on Republicans in Congress to stop opposing efforts to close the tax loophole. The DNC was seeking some political cover for this week's kickoff of its $25 million ad campaign touting Vice President Gore as its presidential candidate. Gore had pledged he wouldn't let the DNC air any soft-money ads unless the GOP started first.