New Well-Connected Conservative Group Runs Pro-Coleman Ad

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There are already indications that the 2008 election will be remarkable for the number of outside groups weighing in with major ad buys supporting or attacking candidates. The latest: a group called the American Future Fund that’s hit Minnesota with a TV ad singing the praises of Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN), who’s locked in an already tight reelection battle with Al Franken.

You can see the ad, which began running March 19th and will last for approximately three weeks, below. With the feel-good synthesized music characteristic of positive ads playing soothingly in the background, it lauds Coleman’s legislative accomplishments (“Coleman has worked with Republicans and Democrats to make college more affordable” etc.), adds, “An independent voice for Minnesota: Norm Coleman,” and ends by urging viewers to call Coleman and “thank him.” The ad buy cost “well into six figures,” according to Larry McCarthy, the media consultant who produced it.

Because the group has established itself as a non-profit — the popular choice this election for outside groups wanting to spend money without restraint while disclosing little to nothing about their activities — details on the new group are sketchy.

The Rothenberg Political Report reported last month that a number of notable conservatives are associated with the group (no one seems to head the group, exactly, as you’ll see below). McCarthy, the media consultant, runs a major firm that also recently produced ads attacking House Democrats run by another outside group called Defense of Democracies.

Also associated with the group, Rothenberg reported, are “veteran GOP legal advisor Ben Ginsberg,” former counsel to the Bush-Cheney campaign among other spots, and “former Republican Governors Association (RGA) executive director Ed Tobin.”

My call requesting more information about the group was referred to Dave Kochel, a former Iowa Republican Party director, who told me that he was the spokesperson for the Iowa Future Fund, a group that has been running negative ads against Gov. Chet Culver (D), but that he was also involved with the American Future Fund “in a limited capacity.” When I asked him who was running the group, he confirmed Rothenberg’s reporting that Ginsberg and McCarthy were “involved,” but said that neither of them was in charge. Those are “the only people who have been identified with the group,” he said.

When I asked if the group would get involved in other races, he responded that it was “very possible,” but “I don’t think we’re going to air our strategy in public…. We’ll make decisions as we go along where we can be most effective and most helpful.”

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