Dems Slam 'Front Groups'—Then Use Them

Nonprofits' secret donors help fund negative ads
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 1, 2010 10:29 AM CDT
Dems Slam 'Front Groups'—Then Use Them
President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., during a rally at Orr Middle School in Las Vegas, Friday, Oct. 22, 2010.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Democrats have hammered Republican “front groups” for paying for negative ads with secret cash—but they themselves are employing a similar maneuver, using money from nonprofits who don’t release their donors’ names to fund their own advertising, reports MSNBC. Dems are thus following Republicans’ lead in using a Supreme Court ruling on campaign cash to their advantage. “We’ve seen this happening on both sides of the aisle,” said a nonpartisan watchdog.

The ruling opened a “loophole” that allows politicians to “launder money,” he said. In Nevada, a Democratic PAC took its biggest donation from a nonprofit that keeps all its donors’ names under wraps—but when stumping there, President Obama blasted Republicans over the technique. “Have you seen some negative ads out here? You don't even know who's sponsoring these ads,” he said.
(More Democratic Party stories.)

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