More trash robocalls on Hayworth's behalf.

I've not blogged it every time it's happened, but it seems like just about every other day, I've received another trash-talking robocall supporting JD Hayworth. Of course, they don't come right out and say they support Hayworth, because that would be illegal. They are required to not "support" any particular candidate.

So they do the next best thing. They talk trash about Hayworth's opponent, Harry Mitchell.

The latest two came this evening. The first was another RNCC call slamming Harry using blatantly misleading half-truths to distort Mitchell's record. The second came tonight from "Americans for Job Security" which did the same thing.

I'll share a little bit about this latter one, because it takes the trash-talking robocall and it goes one more step further into the ugly. Namely, it starts out with a blatant lie by saying "I hope you got the information I sent you." And then it gets worse, as they spread blatant falsehood and misleading half-truths about a candidate.

I've gotten other robocalls with this kind of hook, before. "I'm responding to your inquiry" is a common one. Instead of just cold calling you, they figure that if they lie and say they're "responding" to your inquiry, or that they're "following up" on information they sent, then it will take some of the sting off of the fact that, basically, they're strangers interrupting your dinner hour to lie even MORE to you about a candidate they oppose.

I hate that. I think few things incense me more than being lied to. Particularly by people who then hypocritically ascribe to themselves some kind of moral high ground.

In fact, I hate it so much that I always make it a point to call back those kinds of people and call them on their lies. So it was that, when this call listed a phone number (long distance, of course) I called it, straightaway.

The number, for your information, is 703-535-3112. I got voice-mail, of course.

Basically, Americans for Job Security (or AJS) is a pro-Republican PAC that makes a habit of waging misleading attacks on Democratic candidates in order to get their favored candidates (all Republican) elected. They are useful attack dogs for the GOP especially in races where the Republican - despite being in a gerrymandered district to favor them - is nevertheless in jeopardy of losing (as is JD Hayworth) by dint of looming scandal, gross incompetence, or both.

The President of this Virginia-based PAC is Michael Dubke. Dubke used to run the right-wing Ripon Society, which bills itself as "The Conscience of the Republican Party". The Ripon Society also has an "Education Fund", headed by a lobbyist whose clients have included, among others, Exxon Oil.

The AJS is pretty well known among attack-PACs. According Public Citizen's "StealthPACs" report:

AJS has stated to the IRS that its purpose is "educating the public on economic issues with a pro-market, pro-paycheck message."2 The group, in reality, does not appear tied to any unifying ideological mission other than helping the electoral pursuits of favored candidates, who have exclusively been Republicans throughout the organization's history.

AJS's ads in 2002, for instance, attacked Democratic candidates for such disparate offenses as breaking a promise not to run for a third term, taking money from special interests, being soft on crime, being anti-senior citizen, getting “too comfortable in Washington," and voting against converting Nevada’s Yucca Mountain into a nuclear waste storage site. AJS praised Republican candidates for obtaining aid for ranchers, helping to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, and championing legislation to remove disruptive kids from classrooms.3

AJS typically spends nearly all of its budget on political commercials, which the group terms "grassroots lobbying," and most of those commercials are broadcast during the political campaign season.4 In 2002, 100 percent of the group's 2,172 television commercials were aired within the two months leading up to Election Day.5 Reviewers at the Wisconsin Advertising Project, the foremost academic research program assessing the political content of television ads, concluded that 100 percent of AJS's 2000 and 2002 television ads consisted of electioneering communications, not issue advocacy.6 7

AJS's roster of officers and consultants is a team of Republican Party alumni. One consultant served as director of political affairs for President George H.W. Bush and as national field director for his 1992 campaign. The group's president worked on George H.W. Bush's 1992 campaign, and the group's lawyer, Benjamin Ginsberg, has served as national counsel to George W. Bush's presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2004, the Republican National Committee and a multitude of Republican candidates and organizations.8

Since early revelations that AJS was seeded with $1 million each from the American Forest and Paper Association and the American Insurance Association, the group has jealously guarded its list of funders.9 10 11 The National Journal reported in December 2003 that about 500 corporations and individuals ante up contributions "as high as $100,000" to AJS.12

AJS claimed zero political expenditures in its filings with the IRS that covered calendar years 2000 to 2002.13 In effect, the group claimed that none of its advocacy communications were intended to influence the outcomes of elections.14 But if the IRS were to agree with the findings of the academic reviewers at the Wisconsin Advertising Project that 100 percent of AJS's commercials have been intended to influence the outcomes of elections, as opposed to issue ads, AJS would potentially be in violation of the terms of its 501(c) status. Electioneering activities may not constitute a 501(c) group's primary purpose.15 If AJS were classified as a 527 organization, the status reserved for political organizations, the group would be required to disclose its sources of funding.

So there you have it. A trash-talking robocall from a Stealth PAC run by right-wingers, trading on their tax-exempt status (potentially illegally) to run misleading attack ads against Democratic candidates, including Harry Mitchell.

AJS is also backed by, among others, Big Pharma and Insurance contributors. So it's not surprising they'd be doing hit-pieces on Hayworth's opponent, given how much a blessing Hayworth has been for them.

Just something else to keep in mind when considering those trash-talking robocalls slamming Harry Mitchell.

Please donate to, and vote for, the better man: Harry Mitchell for US Congress.