Osasumwen Izevbigie's News Articles

American Crossroads: The Hit List

target manAmerican Crossroads, a 527 group created in 2010 by right-wing political operatives and supported by Karl Rove and former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie, officially entered into the political campaigning arena last week by airing attack ads on incumbent Nevada Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada). The week-long ad was the newly formed group's first foray into the race and it came at a cost of $120,000. According to the Washington Post, the group has raised a little more than $1 million to date. Slow fundraising hasn't slowed their plan of attack as American Crossroads recently announced the 11 races they plan to target in the upcoming election season.

In addition to Nevada, their targeted races include those in Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Colorado, Arkansas, Kentucky, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Washington state. The group plans to hire a pollster and media consultant for each race in hopes of crafting more tailored and effective campaigning messages. To that end, they have already hired the advertising firm Wilson Grand Communications and Jan van Lohuizen, former pollster for Elizabeth Dole, to be in charge of campaigning in Nevada. They also hired Carl Forti, former political director for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, as research director for the organization.

Full Disclosure: A Response to Citizens United

hiding behind a fenceWhen the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United, many people thought a flood of corporate funded, pro-industry political ads would hit the airwaves. Corporations, however, have hesitated in exercising their newly-announced freedom to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns. Why would corporations pass on the opportunity to exert even more influence on the government? The answer seems to be fear of backlash: corporations may want to support campaigns against certain regulations, but not at the risk of antagonizing Congressmen, consumers, and employees. Instead of offering outright support for campaigns, it seems some corporations have funneled funds into political organizations. According to an article in the Washington Post, the Chamber of Commerce, American Crossroads, and American Action Network have pledged to raise $127 million for the upcoming election season.

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