Group Helps Huckabee With Iowa Calls
By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press
December 4, 2007
Page 2 of 2
The group's predecessor is Common Sense Ohio, a group financed by wealthy Republican donors that Swift helped form and that was active in several Senate races in 2006. Common Sense Ohio was criticized last year for placing negative phone calls about Democratic candidates.
''We use a very sophisticated interactive phone technique that starts right where a person is and depending upon their answer provides additional information of one sort or another,'' Swift said.
The calls are automated and shift scripts if a recipient of a call expresses support for a different candidate. Asked if the calls were providing negative information about candidates, Swift said, ''It all depends on your view of it.''
The calls direct listeners to the Web site TrustHuckabee.com, which lists itself as a project of Common Sense Issues.
Under campaign finance laws, the group can advocate for a candidate and conduct get-out-the-vote campaigns as long as it files a report with the Federal Election commission identifying its expenditures and its donors.
The money spent on such a political effort would have to come only from individuals, not corporations or unions. Furthermore, the group would have to show the IRS and the FEC that its major purpose was not influencing elections.
Common Sense Issues bills itself as a grass-roots lobbying organization dedicated to educating people on public policy issues.
''If the major purpose is to influence elections, it is a PAC,'' said campaign finance lawyer Jan Baran, a former general counsel for the Republican National Committee. ''If the major purpose is something else it is not a PAC. Therefore, the question is what is the major purpose of Common Sense? Does it do things other than support Huckabee?''
As a political action committee, a group's donors could give no more than $5,000 for each election cycle.
>> Back -- Page 1 2
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
++ Discuss this topic in The Forum
Current rating:  5.0 out of 5.0 (3 total votes)
| 
