Watch for More Independent Ads Like This

(Danville, California)

 

    I leave for North Carolina in three days; and, as exciting as that will be, I wish I was going to be in Indiana, where it appears the two Democrats are in an even more heated standoff. Oh well, I bought the tickets weeks ago, and you just can't be in two places at once.

 

    One of the reasons Indiana has raised my curiosity is an "anti-Barack Obama" ad campaign running on behalf of Sen. Hillary Clinton. The ads are sponsored by an outside group, not the Clinton campaign. We will be seeing a lot more of this, a la the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" in the 2004 campaign.

 

    The courts have long upheld the right of independent groups to produce and place ads, even if the ads don't have the blessing of the candidate. It's free speech!

 

    I raise the issue today, because the group sponsoring the ad is based here in California. The "American Leadership Project" has spent more than $1 million dollars on the ads, spending even more in Indiana than it did in larger states (and, therefore, more expensive adverting markets), such as Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

 

    Who is behind this group? Well, according to the "Los Angeles Times,"  $300,000 came from the American Federation of Teachers alone. The rest of the money came from other powerful unions as well.

 

    Again, all of this is legal; but it raises some troubling issues. What about union members who support Barack Obama? Their union dues are going to fight their own candidate. So, this again raises the issue of whether a law should be passed that lets union members "opt-out" of having their dues go to political candidates they don't like.

 

    In fairness, I should disclose that I am a union member, with AFTRA, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. I do support "opt-out" provisions regarding union political donations. No one should be forced by coercion, union or otherwise, to support a candidate they aren't voting for!

 

    I travel to Charlotte Sunday through Wednesday, and will be writing on both the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.

 

    Check in at www.MarkCurtisMedia.blogspot.com

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