 POLITICS IS CONFLICTUAL
Watch the commercial They Served produced by the 527 organization Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth, which aired during the 2004 presidential campaign:
Now watch MoveOn.org’s Thanksgiving commercial at the following link:
https://pol.moveon.org/donate/thanksgiving-QT.html
|
| 1. How do these commercials correspond to the book’s definition of a 527 organization (on page 331)? |
|
Now read the following news story:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/12/13/154542.shtml?s=ic
|
| 2. Are you surprised by the Associated Press’s report that both organizations were fined by the Federal Election Commission? Why or why not? What are the problems inherent in the policing of 527 organizations? |
|
 PROCESS MATTERS
Special interests may try to curry favor with hopeful politicians by supporting their bids for election. Presidential candidates may, in the general election, refuse support from specific private interests, or they may eschew private funding altogether and run their campaign on public funds. Read the USA Today editorial criticizing then-presumptive Democratic nominee for president Barack Obama for his decision to opt out of the public financing system. Then read Senator Obama’s response.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/06/opposing-view-4.html
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/06/our-view-on-cam.html
|
| 3. Why does the USA Today editorial board believe that Senator Obama should not have refused public financing? How does Senator Obama rationalize his decision? With whom do you agree most? How might special interests argue for or against the kind of campaign finance reform endorsed by the editorial board and, ostensibly, by Senator Obama? |
|
 POLITICS IS EVERYWHERE
Visit OpenSecrets.org and spend some time examining the makeup of 527 organizations by industry, sector, expenditure, size, and over time. |
| 4. What groups are most represented? Are there any groups or organizations that seem underrepresented? How would you group the different types of 527 organizations? |
|
| 5. Look at the names of the different organizations. Is it always clear what a 527 stands for or who it represents? What political considerations might inspire some of the name choices you see? |
|
| 6. Also, notice that in 2008 two state-level organizations – one that represents California peace officers and one that represents Illinois health workers – were among the most financially powerful 527s. What does this observation suggest about the distribution of power and influence in the American federal system? How well are local interests represented at the different levels of government? Why does it matter? |
|