Republican Party of Virginia: DNC At It Again: Democrats Coordinate Attack Ad in Violation of Election Laws

FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF VIRGINIA

May 05, 2008

CONTACT: Josh Noland
804-780-0111 Office ~ 804-201-1527 Cell
jnoland@rpv.org  


RICHMOND, VA – The Democratic National Committee (DNC) continues to coordinate with its presidential candidates to launch political attacks against John McCain.  In response, the Republican Party of Virginia will file a second complaint with the Federal Elections Commission.

“A disturbing trend has developed among the DNC and its presidential candidates,” said Republican Party of Virginia Chairman John Hager.  “First, the DNC shows complete disregard for federal election laws by coordinating strategy with the presidential campaigns, and then the DNC puts out intentionally misleading negative ads.  Meanwhile, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remain silent.  It is past time for these campaigns, including Obama campaign co-chair and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, to demand that these ads cease running.”

The ad is running on cable stations nationwide and exceeds the $5,000 contribution limit to each of its presidential candidates.  As a result, it constitutes an excessive in-kind contribution from the DNC to its candidates and violates the Federal Election Campaign Act.  RPV’s complaint details how the ad passes the three-prong test that must be satisfied in order to show that a violation has occurred:

1.  The ad is paid for by the DNC (not by either of the Democratic presidential candidates it benefits).

2.  The ad clearly references a federal candidate (John McCain within the restricted timeframe.

3.  The DNC is regularly communicating with its’ candidates campaigns.

Numerous recent press accounts show that the DNC and the campaigns were working together to put out this ad, and that the DNC’s statement that no coordination occurred is absurd.  According to a report from http://Washingtonpost.com entitled “DNC Officials Huddle With Clinton, Obama Campaigns”:

DNC “officials have met in recent days with the top campaign brass of Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) to brief them on the committee’s plans in the coming months. (“DNC Officials Huddle With Clinton, Obama Campaigns” by Chris Cillizza, http://Washingtonpost.com, April 25, 2008)