Obama indy ads go all-out in Ohio, Texas; Clinton's on hold

With the crucial voting in Texas and Ohio now just a week away, organized labor and liberal groups including MoveOn.org have spent $2 million in independent campaigns boosting Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic contests, while a separate outside effort organized for Sen. Hillary Clinton has stalled. And time is running out.

As of this morning, four days after its planned start, a newly formed pro-Clinton group, American Leadership Project, had failed to broadcast any of its proposed ads in Ohio and Texas.

Last week after the Clinton group announced its plan to launch TV ads on ...

... Friday, the Obama campaign convened a news conference and threatened legal action. Obama attorney Robert Bauer warned that the pro-Clinton group would be violating federal law by airing the spots because donations to the planned effort would be unlimited.

The legal action could include criminal penalties, the attorney warned, and could be a "life-changing" experience for the consultants and any donors.

Apparently the threats worked and the Clinton people and donors blinked. Plus, trends in recent polls in both states have seemed rather ominous for the New York senator.

Democratic consultants Roger Salazar and Jason Kinney, who have been trying to organize the pro-Clinton effort, denounced the threat. Still, the tactic has at least delayed the launch of their ads, if not scuttled their plan altogether.

"We are still evaluating," Salazar said in an e-mail today to The Times' Dan Morain.

The Service Employees International Union, meanwhile, announced a "major escalation" of its pro-Obama effort in Ohio and Texas today and started airing television spots in both states, which vote March 4. The union already has pumped more than $1.8 million into Obama's campaigns in the two key states, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

MoveOn, which recently endorsed Obama, has weighed in with an initial offering of $38,000. But another group, the California-based PowerPAC, has spent $380,000 for Obama. In addition to paying for TV spots, the money is going for mailers, on-line advertising and get-out-the vote efforts.

Obama denounces such efforts even though he benefits from them. His campaign sent a letter to one such group, Vote Hope, in December, asking that it cease its effort -- to no avail. Obama spokesman Bill Burton today repeated the candidate's position, while jabbing at Clinton.

Clinton benefited from independent efforts in Iowa, New Hampshire and other early states. But in Texas and Ohio, independent campaigns by the pro-abortion rights EMILY's List and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have spent relatively little.

"While Sen. Clinton has benefited from more than $5 million in spending from outside groups and said nothing," Burton told Morain today, "Sen. Obama has long said that he would prefer those who want to support him to do it directly through the campaign."

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Jason]

Or you might be an idiot if you think you're going to get anyone to come around to your way of thinking by calling them an idiot.

[Preets98]

You are an idiot if you think Clinton with such enormous experience is not going home! Where is her experience when her campaign is in disarray? Where is her experience when she voted for the war that has killed our brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers?

[anne-marie]

yeah, whaterver. shame on you the media and the public for portraying Obama as the king and Hillary as the shrew. As a woman I am totally turned off by how this campaign turned out to be. There has been so much gender discrimination nationwide in the media and how the public spoke about Hillary compared to how people spoke about Obama.
this makes me believe that America is still not ready for a woman president and shows how still women are viewed as shrews and not worthy.
I am totally turned off by how badly the media together with the public portrayed Hillary in the last few months. shame on you for not being fair and equal towards the genders. this happens all the time in daily life, women are viewed as shrews and mean, and unqualified, and men as capable and totally qualified to do the work. of course with the help of the media Obama is going to win. and who works in the media?? the majority of men work in the media and obviously they will write all these articles how they see the world and men aout there still see the world as men totally capable of doing the job and women as being as unfit and mean, and angry.

[theproblemwithcaring]

Or you might be an idiot if you think you're going to get anyone to come around to your way of thinking by calling them an idiot.

Posted by: Jason |

also if you think laying in bed next to someone who does a job qualifies you to do that job.

Even if we could vote for President Clinton again; if he ran his campaign ANYTHING like his wife's runs hers -- I wouldn't be voting for him either, let alone the person who wasn't fulfilling him sexually during while he was in office.

[John Kooms]

There ought to be a national IQ test for every potential voter that must be passed before one is allowed to vote . This test would have prevented the George Bush disaster and would eliminate Clinton as a presidential candidate . Rumsfeld and Cheney had decades of " experience " between them and look what their experience and genius got us in Iraq ? I'll take integrity and honesty and intelligence over some corrupt and phony " experienced " politician any day ! Hillary is as phony as her " black " southern accent , remember ? I expect her Hispanic accent to come forth any day now .

[tony banks]

one of the most precious thing i ever had but i had to give her out cos of my working conditions you can contact me via email on t.banks@yahoo.com