Oregon Public Broadcasting

Remember the Swift Boat attack ads in the presidential race four years ago? This year, independent campaigns are playing a major role in Northwest politics.

In the Washington State governor’s race, more than $40 million is being spent. Nearly half of that has come from partisan groups that are running their own negative ads. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

Flip on the TV or commercial radio these days and it seems almost every ad is a political one. The more negative or ominous the ad, chances are it was paid for by someone other than the candidate.

RGA Ad: “It sounds like the plot of a late-night scary movie. The addresses of 1300 convicted sex offenders are never verified, and we lose track of where they are. Sadly on Chris Gregoire’s watch that’s exactly what’s happened.”

This ad was funded by the Republican Governors Association. The RGA is spending $5 million in Washington State to defeat Governor Gregoire and elect Dino Rossi.

Nick Ayers is RGA’s Executive Director. He understands voters may not like these independent expenditure or IE campaigns.

Nick Ayers: “They think these IEs open up, they come in and they run negative ads, I wish they wouldn’t do that. Well, candidly, I wish we wouldn’t do that either."

But Ayers says strict campaign contribution limits to candidates have created an environment where independent campaigns – with no contribution limits - thrive. Third party groups like his are not allowed to coordinate with the candidates they support.

Nick Ayers: “We would be much better off if we could give directly to candidates and then candidates had to take ownership for what their message is, for what they’re saying.”

Indentifying individual contributors to independent campaigns is another issue.

For instance, the Republican Governors Association doesn’t have to report its donors to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission. That’s also true of the Democratic Governors Association.

Not to be outdone it’s pumped nearly $4 million into Washington State – most of it to Evergreen Progress. This is a union-backed independent group that’s running anti-Rossi ads like this one.

DGA Ad: “These real estate industry lobbyists helped this powerful state senator buy this apartment building. Then helped Rossi buy a bank, making Dino a wealthier man.”

The Democratic Governors Association is headed by Nathan Daschle, son of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

He says the DGA is spending more money in Washington State than it’s ever spent in a governor’s race. The previous record was also in Washington State four years ago.

As for the tone of the Evergreen Progress ads, Daschle is unapologetic.

Nathan Daschle: “Evergreen Progress I think is out there to talk about sides of Dino Rossi that Dino Rossi doesn’t want to talk about and some people might perceive that as negative but I think in reality these are just important issue ads.”

Issue ads or political trash talk – you choose – these third-party efforts have become shadow campaigns.

So far in the 2008 presidential race there’s been no equivalent to the 2004 Swift Boat attacks. But in Washington State, third-party spending is exploding.

Outside groups are also spending millions of dollars on Oregon’s hotly contested U.S. senate race.

Ed Bender runs the National Institute on Money in State Politics in Helena, Montana. He says the reason interest groups give political money hasn’t changed, what has changed is where they put their money.

Ed Bender: “The bottom line is they’re simply playing the game in a different playpen maybe, but it’s the same money in politics game – they want access and they want to be able to have a say on the issues of the day.”

The biggest independent player in this year’s Washington State governor’s race is the Building Industry Association of Washington or BIAW – a group that advocates fewer government regulations.

Its ChangePAC has spent more than $7 million in an effort to unseat Gregoire. In fact, pro-Rossi independent groups are spending more money this year than Rossi himself.

RGA Ads

Evergreen Progress Ads