Super PACs in sheep’s clothing

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:06:00 +0000

One of the oldest dirty tricks in politics is running candidates in your opponent's primary to distract them from the general or even potentially knock them out entirely. The FBI is reportedly investigating Rep. David Rivera for backing a fake Democrat with envelopes stuffed with cash, and Republicans in Wisconsin openly supported “fake Democrats” there in order to give Gov. Scott Walker an edge in the election's timing.

But the rise of super PACs has opened up a new venue for this tactic, allowing operatives to anonymously deploy hundreds of thousands of dollars of ads while deceitfully pretending to be partisans of the other side. In Maine, where liberal-leaning independent former Gov. Angus King is the clear front-runner for an open U.S. Senate seat, a Republican-tied group with the innocuous name Maine Freedom has spent $250,000. But instead of promoting Republican Charlie Summers or using all the money to attack King, the group is boosting Democrat Cynthia Dill. The ads portray Dill positively, calling her “a Democrat you can feel good about.”

Salon.com > R-Maine

Super PACs in sheep’s clothing