Air Cover for Kerry

Michael Crowley looks at the Media Fund and Americans Coming Together (ACT), two liberal 527 committees who may spend as much as $150 million before Nov. 2 in an attempt to defeat George W. Bush. Although they are officially nonpartisan, 527s - used by both parties - use a loophole in election laws to get around limits on "soft money" spending by political parties. "The goal was to provide some air cover [for Kerry] early in the campaign," says ad man David Kessler, who has worked with the Media Fund. Kessler compares the 527 ads to "the scene in Saving Private Ryan, when they hit the beachhead and the shit's flying. That's what our job was - take the f--ing beachhead and [Kerry] will come in when he's ready." (So is it an air war, a ground war, or a naval invasion?)