Defending America, Attacking McCain

by John Stauber — March 6, 2008 - 2:57pm
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The Democratic Party-oriented Campaign to Defend America, a non-profit group spun off from Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, is behind a TV ad attacking John McCain. Campaign to Defend America and its funders "have pledged a multimillion-dollar effort to target McCain and congressional Republicans on the consequences of the Iraq war on the U.S. economy," receiving "at least $1.4 million from The Fund for America, a nonprofit group set up last year by John Podesta, a former chief of staff for President Clinton; Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union; and Rob McKay, a California philanthropist (and chair of the Democracy Alliance). Campaign to Defend America is headed by Tom Matzzie, the former Washington director of ... MoveOn.org. Among Fund for America donors are multimillionaire financier George Soros." The Center for Investigative Reporting has created a chart illustrating the liberal money and connections behind the Campaign to Defend America. Recently the groups behind the Campaign and AAEI poured $20 million dollars into a the Iraq/Recession Campaign targeting Republicans in 2008.

Main Source: 
Associated Press, March 5, 2008

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More details from CIR

Submitted by John Stauber on March 10, 2008 - 8:15pm.

http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/blogpost/20080310moredetailsonantimccaingroup
More details on anti-McCain group

A political organization financed by film producer [[Steve Bing]] has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to a liberal group running attack ads against Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

[[American Family Voices Voters’ Alliance]] gave $300,000 to the [[Campaign to Defend America]] last November, according to government filings. The Campaign to Defend America aired ads last month calling McCain the “McSame” as President Bush. ... American Family Voices, which ran controversial automated telephone calls to voters in 2006, is headed by [[Mike Lux]], a former aide to President Bill Clinton.

Before contributing to the Campaign to Defend America, American Family Voices received $600,000 from liberal mega-donor Bing. Bing gave millions to pro-Democrat groups in the 2004 election cycle, and is currently a bundler for Sen. Hillary Clinton, raising at least $100,000 for her presidential campaign. Bing is also known for his playboy reputation, including a paternity dispute with actress Elizabeth Hurley.