Independent Group to Air TV Ads Echoing Clinton Attacks on Obama

INDEPENDENT GROUP TO AIR ADS ECHOING CLINTON ATTACKS ON OBAMA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Matthew Mosk]
As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton launches fresh attacks on Sen. Barack Obama after a string of electoral defeats, several of her major financial backers have formed an independent group to air television advertisements echoing her message that she is more qualified than Obama to fix the economy. The decision to launch the independent group, known as a "527" because of its tax code designation, coincides with an increasingly aggressive approach being taken by Clinton in advance of March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas that could determine the Democratic nominee. The Obama campaign compared the effort to the "Swift boat" ads that helped sink Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry's 2004 presidential bid. Supporters of the group, called the American Leadership Project, said yesterday that they decided to undertake the effort late last month, when Clinton was forced to lend her campaign $5 million to try to minimize Obama's large fundraising advantage. Unlike a political campaign, the group can accept as much as money as supporters want to give. Campaign finance reports filed yesterday showed that Obama outdid Clinton in fundraising last month, collecting $36 million. Clinton's campaign said she will report raising $13.9 million. And while Clinton finance officials said yesterday that this month has been the campaign's strongest month for fundraising, there are signs that she continues to lag behind Obama. While Clinton aides reported raising $1 million a day during the first half of the month, an Obama adviser described one recent day that yielded $2.4 million. And in an e-mail Clinton sent to supporters yesterday, she said she was outspent 4 to 1 on television ads in Wisconsin, where she lost decisively on Tuesday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/20/AR2008022002950.html
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