After suffering embarrassing losses in this year’s midterm elections, the Left has looked for various scapegoats to explain the now historic results. Those blamed for the midterm elections include Nancy Pelosi, the failure to adequately sell ObamaCare, Fox News, and conservative fundraising efforts. Since Pelosi has been re-elected to a leadership position by the Democratic Party, ObamaCare is being challenged by a number of Republican lawmakers, and Glenn Beck’s popularity grows in the face of steadfast opposition, the Left has been left to contend with the successful efforts of conservative fundraisers. One distinguished liberal believes he has found a solution.
David Brock, a prominent Democratic political operative, has announced his plans to create a liberal fundraising organization. He has raised $4 million over the past few weeks to develop a liberal presence in the 2012 elections, both on the radio and television, in the form of political advertisements. Brock plans to submit the proper paperwork to the Federal Election Commission to create a formal independent-expenditure-only political action committee, which means that the organization will be permitted to take an unlimited amount of contributions, so long as the donors are disclosed.
Brock contends that it is his hope that his action committee, called the American Bridge, will counter the right-wing fundraising organizations, such as American Crossroads and the Chamber of Commerce, which outspent liberal groups this year. Besides the overwhelming amount of funds raised by the conservative groups this year, the conservative fundraising groups’ failure to disclose its donors provoked a great deal of criticism from liberal groups.
According to the New York Times, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (above, left), the eldest of Robert F. Kennedy’s 11 children and former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, agreed to serve as the chairwoman of Brock’s American Bridge.
In addition to the American Bridge, Brock is looking to raise money by way of one of his other organizations: Media Matters Action Network, an organization that does not have to disclose its donors.
One item worth mentioning is that one of Media Matters’ biggest financial supporters is billionaire globalist George Soros. Another compelling bit of information is that the American Bridge is officially organized as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group and is intended to play a large role in the 2012 elections.
As a 501(c)(4) organization, the American Bridge’s affiliations with George Soros are quite telling. Soros was a leading proponent, and alleged writer, of the McCain-Feingold Act, a law that restricted the ability of grassroots groups to advertise on television, while allowing major media free rein to promote their Democratic candidates. The passage of the act in 2002 witnessed an explosion of 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) organizations, such as Media Matters Action Network and MoveOn.org.
Likewise, Brock has not shied away from his connection to Media Matters Action Network. The New York Times reports, “Mr. Brock said that ‘money is money,’ and that he would actively solicit donors for both entities and, in the end, the media spending would be apportioned accordingly.”
“My donor base already constitutes the major individual players who have historically given hundreds of millions of dollars to these types of efforts. They just need to be asked, and I have no doubt they will step up at this critical time,” Brock remarked.
In addition to Soros, Brock found support in a number of other prominent liberals. The Times writes, “Leading Democratic donors who have already pledged money to the group include Rob McKay, heir to the Taco Bell fortune and chairman of the Democracy Alliance, a partnership of wealthy liberal donors; Robert Dyson, who heads Dyson-Kissner-Moran, a takeover and acquisitions firm in New York City; and Marcia L. Carsey, a television producer who gave $1 million to Democratic outside groups in 2004.”
Most interesting is that Obama’s administration has articulated a welcoming attitude toward the formation of groups such as Brock’s, which is a change of attitude from Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Noting the irony of the Obama administration’s change of heart, particularly since President Obama was a leading opponent of undisclosed conservative donors in this year’s midterm elections, the New York Times writes, “The overriding desire on the part of liberal donors and activists to hold on to the White House and to win back some of what was lost in the House and Senate may trump those principles.”
Brock is reportedly one of a number of liberals interested in creating independent political action committees. Additionally, Steve Rosenthal, chief executive of America Coming Together, a Democratic fundraising group, indicated an interest in similar activities.
However, no other Democrat has taken such advanced efforts as raising money and setting up the organization as Brock has done.
Describing the organization’s focus for 2012, the Times writes, “The internal concept paper for American Bridge lays out a series of priorities for the next year, including initially focusing on attacking vulnerable Republicans in the Senate and the House, as a prelude to major spending in 2012.”
Photo: Kathleen KennedyTownsend protests the Salvadorian government’s plan to privatize the nation’s potable water service in San Salvador: AP Images
