Imagine that a small newspaper uncovered this scoop: a rich conservative philanthropist, say Richard Mellon Scaife, directly and through his Foundation, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Democratic group to run ads targeting leading Democratic politicians. Reporters from all the leading dailies, the three major networks as well as CNN, MSNBC and even FoxNews would be beating down the paper’s doors, trying to get access to their sources.
The story would lead their web-pages and dominate evening newscasts.
Scaife has already taken enough grief just for funding major conservative think tanks and periodicals, but here he’d have been caught playing the kind of dirty tricks that helped Richard Nixon earn the enmity of the news media.
So, what did my google news search yield when I typed in the name of a liberal philanthropist, Tim Gill and Log Cabin, an ostensibly Republican organization, to which said philanthropist had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars, in large part, to run ads targeting leading Republicans?
I got two hits–and only one to an article referencing the matter–and here’s all it said, “TIm Gill rules the world, and, apparently, the Log Cabin Republicans.“Â To be sure, Politico’s blogger Ben Smith also picked up the story, but rather than highlight that Democrat’s dirty tricks suggested the philanthropist’s largesse was a sign the GOP was unwelcoming to gays.
GPW, it gets worse. In the 2004 campaign, LCR ran anti-Bush ads. I’m thinking of their ad titled something like “Fear”, which you probably can’t find nowadays, but when I saw it, it was pretty mushy and didn’t say much of anything, except it was filled with dark hints that Bush is a monster – and hence, indirectly or by implication, people should vote for Kerry. Who funded that? Doesn’t the Gill Foundation funding stretch back years?
And Bruce answers my question – Yes, Gill’s funding of LCR stretches back to 2004:
http://www.gaypatriot.net/2009/02/27/gaypatriot-exclusivelog-cabin-insider-discloses-shocking-detailsof-gay-gops-tim-gill-connection/
OK, I gotta get my facts right for posterity. The ad was titled “Hope not Fear”. You can still find it here – scroll down to August 2004:
http://online.logcabin.org/videocorner/
Partial correction to what I said above – The ad in fact does not mention Bush or Kerry. But it sets up an opposition between policies that the viewer is supposed to connect with Bush and consider bad, vs. policies that the viewer is supposed to not connect with Bush and not consider bad. In the context of August 2004 and later, the height of a Presidential campaign when it was much much too late to have any effect on Bush policies or campaign content, the only possible import of such a message could be: vote for Kerry. I gotta believe Gill funded that one.
So Tim Gill managed to get Iowa and Colorodo employment non-discrimination acts passed. What’s wrong with that?
I’m not sure I understand why anyone should care except those who gave money to and/or respected LCR. It’s an internal GOP problem just as it would be if it was the scenario you describe GPW
Why isn’t this news? Because LCR is barely relevant. They don’t influence any GOP debates, but is just used by a few Republicans in Dem areas that need their endorsement. Which is then ignored by those who they endorsed.
Its not that LCR doesn’t try to be relevant. They’re just beating their heads against a wall.
So Tim Gill gave some money to LCR. Do you think Gill runs LCR? Is that your implication. You’re nuts.