Bush backers object to ads

President Bush’s re-election campaign yesterday asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate a liberal advocacy group for airing anti-Bush TV ads the campaign calls illegal.

The ads, which were scheduled to begin airing today in 17 battleground states, are financed in part by Democratic billionaire George Soros, who last year likened the president to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

The complaint was filed last night and accuses the Media Fund, the organization that is running the ads, of violating a ban on the use of “soft money” unlimited donations from corporations, unions and individuals for federal election activity.

“We believe this is illegal,” Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt said yesterday in an interview. “We believe that the FEC would look at this and say this is a violation” of campaign finance laws.

Media Fund strongly disagreed.

“They are entirely legal,” said Harold Ickes, director of the organization. “We are advised by a battery of legal experts who have no reservations about the legality.”

FEC spokesman Ian Stirton said the commission is in the process of determining whether ads by groups such as Media Fund which are known by their tax-code designation as 527s violate the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law and whether they should be regulated before the election.

Media Fund has accepted large contributions from Mr. Soros, who has also given millions to MoveOn.org, another 527 organization that has aired anti-Bush ads. MoveOn.org came under fire in recent months for sponsoring a competition that resulted in several advertisements comparing the president to Hitler.

“We have not taken heat because of it,” Mr. Ickes said of the billionaire’s penchant for Bush-Hitler comparisons.

The Media Fund’s initial buy, worth $5 million, features a 30-second commercial that begins: “President Bush. Remember the American dream?

“It’s about hope, not fear. It’s about more jobs at home, not tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. It’s about giving our children their chance, not our debt. It’s about providing health care for people, not just profits. It’s about fighting for the middle class, not special interests.”

The ad then declares: “It’s time to take our country back from corporate greed and make America work for every American.”

Larry Noble, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, agreed with the Bush campaign that ads by both MoveOn.org and Media Fund are illegal.

“These groups have stated that their purpose is to defeat President Bush,” he said. “As political committees, they are required to abide by the contribution limits and prohibitions in terms of the money that they take in.”

That would mean 527s could accept only small, tightly regulated “hard money” contributions. Instead, they are taking unlimited “soft money” gifts from Mr. Soros and other wealthy individuals.

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