After yesterday’s report from ThinkProgress that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “funds its political attack campaign out of its general account, which solicits foreign funding,” Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) has asked the Federal Elections Commission to investigate whether the Chamber is violating election law by raising money from foreign donors. That’s a fine idea. Given the astronomical amount of spending the Chamber is doing this election cycle, I think Democrats would be wise to spotlight their role as vigorously as possible.
This was something that occurred to me a couple of weeks ago while I was watching one of the Chamber’s attack ads aimed at Barbara Boxer. The ad itself is nothing special, but what struck me was the tagline at the end: “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is responsible for the content of this advertising.” What do most people think of when they hear that? Well, most people aren’t plugged into DC politics, so what they think of is the local chamber of commerce. You know, some local bankers, car dealers, retailers, and so forth. Business oriented, sure, but mostly folks who don’t have any big ideological axe to grind. Civic boosters. Pillars of the community.
But that’s not what the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is anymore. Under CEO Tom Donohue it long ago became a hard right-wing lobbying group blessed with a huge war chest dedicated to electing Republican candidates who will watch out for corporate interests. Their advertising, I suspect, is a lot more credible than it should be because most people don’t know this. Democrats would be well advised to start a determined campaign that gets the word out about who the Chamber really is these days.
