Edwards Is Backing Away From 527s
Yesterday’s Des Moines Register carried a story about a call for a ban on 527 groups (tax-exempt organizations that are not regulated by the Federal Election Commission or state election commissions that work to influence elections). Plenty of people feel that 527s need a bit of regulation, but the Register’s article focused on John Edward’s disapproval of the groups and his wish that such organizations would stop running ads for him. Edwards refused to state publicly that he requests that the groups stop running ads for him, but he did later release a statement saying that he didn’t want the ads.
There’s a bit of a run around in this election as various candidates say that they don’t want help from 527s. Some how, though, 527s are still running ads.
The real controversy about 527 groups, though, is the fact that they avoid regulation by the Federal Election Commission by walking a very narrow line. 527s cannot make expenditures to directly advocate the election or defeat of any specific candidate, but there are plenty of accusations stemming from the 2004 presidential election claiming that 527s did just that.
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, for instance, is a 527 group. Whether or not you agree with their political stance, the fact remains that the organization spent well over $22 million in 2004 and worked specifically for the defeat of John Kerry. A complaint was filed on the matter with the FEC by three campaign finance watchdog groups, but, so far, the rules governing 527 groups have stayed basically the same.
Personally, the way many 527 groups operate bothers me. I don’t care what side they are advocating, but a large number of 527s seem to follow the letter of the law — barely — rather than the spirit. It’s a way for a candidate’s supporters (or enemies) to get around campaign finance laws, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per election cycle. I think the real reason that candidates, like Edwards, are decrying the actions of 527s, is that they don’t want their names associated with groups that obviously bend the rules.
