A Republican Latino group with ties to the Bush Administration is airing radio ads alleging that Obama puts African Americans before Latinos and Africa before Latin America.

The 527 group, Latinos For Reform, is new this month and now it's running a Spanish-language ad in Pennsylvania and Colorado. The ad translates, in part, as:

Barack Obama a friend of the Latino community? The record demonstrates the opposite. Did you know that after the 2000 census that showed a tremendous growth of Latinos in Chicago, Obama told reporters in Chicago that while everyone agrees that the Hispanic population has grown, they cannot expand by taking power from the African-American community. You heard right...but there's more. Did you know that Obama has never hired a Latino to a senior position in his office throughout his legislative career? Did you know that Obama has opposed trade with Mexico, Central America and Colombia, yet supports free trade with Africa?

The chairman of Latinos For Reform is Robert Deposada, who has served in the leadership of the Hispanic Business Roundtable and The Latino Coalition, and was formerly director of Hispanic affairs for the Republican National Committee. In 2001, President Bush appointed Deposada to a commission to advance the administration's plan for privatizing Social Security.

The treasurer of Latinos For Reform is high-powered Republican lobbyist Juan Carlos Benitez, whose firm brags that he "has exceptionally close ties to the White House." Benitez was a Pioneer -- he raised more than $100,000 for the 2004 re-election campaign -- and President Bush named him special counsel for immigration-related unfair employment practices. Benitez also raised between $50,000 and $100,000 this election cycle for McCain.

In a press release, Deposada voiced frustration that McCain hasn't put enough effort into courting the Latino vote. "The lackluster and severely underfunded effort to promote Senator McCain among Latino voters needs an urgent bolt of new energy if the Arizona senator is to win the general election," he said. Apparently Latinos For Reform hopes to be that bolt.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

Why do people assault cameramen? Don't they realize they have cameras?

It's a continuing mystery, as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce uses one angry-man-versus-cameraman confrontation to blast union-friendly legislation and the Democrats who support it.

The new ad, airing in states like Minnesota and Oregon with key Senate races, shows footage of Kentucky AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan with his hands all over someone's camera, threatening, "I'm going to take this camera and stick it somewhere where you don't want it." The ad is meant to suggest that workers could face this kind of treatment from "union bosses" -- if Senate Democrats can enact a bill that would let workers simply sign a petition to unionize a workplace, rather than hold a secret-ballot vote. Londrigan was reportedly not amused.

The Chamber is in the midst of its biggest election-season effort yet, committing some $35 million to help pro-business candidates in House and Senate races. A big part of the campaign focuses on opposing that pro-union bill, called the Employee Free Choice Act. (It's awkward to oppose "free choice," so one business group re-names it the "Employee FORCED Choice Act," helpfully retaining the orginial acronym.)

A top issue on Election Day? Hardly. It doesn't even make this list in those "top issues for voters" polls. But it's a huge issue to the business community, which is busy trying to sell it as something voters need to care about.

We've had the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace pound away against the legislation. And the business-backed Employee Freedom Action Committee has raised $20 million and is spending it on TV ads. (Here's the action committee's latest.) Americans for Job Security also got into the act with new ads targetting the Act. All of groups are using the issue against Democratic candidates in hot Senate races.

Meanwhile -- perhaps ironically? -- the AFL-CIO just launched a multi-state radio campaign "urging citizens to vote and telling them how to be prepared to protect their vote on Election Day."

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

How long does it take to go from gaffe to attack ad? Five days, based on our most recent example.

You'll recall that on Sunday, Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden said, "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy...Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

Biden is famous for flubs, and this seems to be his biggest during the general election. Or as the New York Post put it, "JOE D'OH PUTS O IN 'CRISIS' MODE."

So that was Sunday. Already McCain, Palin and conservatives have rubbed it in Obama's face. And now, Let Freedom Ring has launched an ad in battleground states with the audio of Biden's remark. It starts running tomorrow and will eventually be up in Nevada, Ohio, Colorado, Pennsylvania and the pricey Virginia-Washington D.C. market. The ad also features Reagan appointee Frank Gaffney arguing, on something of a tangent, that "weakness invites aggression."

It's guaranteed that Biden didn't look as happy as he does in the ad when he realized the impact of his gaffe. But let's not put all the blame on Biden.

One of Obama's most memorable "oops" moments -- in a remarkably similar setting -- was when he told a group of supporters at a San Francisco fundraiser last winter that some small town voters "cling to guns or religion" because they are "bitter."

Let Freedom Ring lets Obama relive that moment over and over, with an ad (below) featuring some bitter, small town Pennsylvania voters. Guess what? They're all voting for John McCain.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

The Democrats have figured it out. The key to defeating Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) is hypnosis. How else to explain these similarly transfixing anti-Smith ads from two liberal groups?

The Service Employees International Union offers a spinning kaleidoscope of money, symbolizing the "deep dark hole" of the economy. Add ominous music, show Smith's face; then bring back the kaleidoscope, cue the feel-good chords and show Smith's competition, Democrat Jeff Merkley. In Youtube format, you can watch again and again!

If that didn't work, try this: 30 seconds of water spiraling down the drain, countesy of Patriot Majority, a union-funded 527 trying to defeat Smith because he's "draining the middle class." Then the words on the screen dissolve into water and spiral down too....woah. For the full effect, we suggest playing both ads at the same time.

A new ad from the League of Conservation Voters seeks to attach Demcratic candidate Merkley firmly to Obama's coattails. After all, Merkley's like a back-up musician to Obama the rock star, or support staff to Obama the head chef, or a teammate to Obama the point guard. Hey -- they're LCV's metaphors, not ours.

Desperate for an anti-Merkley ad? Americans for Job Security has your back. The group's ad says Merkley's solution for economic crisis is big government spending and the elimination of logging jobs. Plus, Oregon is lost in some kind of time warp: the facts cited in the ad toggle back and forth between 2003 and 2007-08. Personally, we think the ad would be more effective if everything were spinning.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

Abortion, religion and judges -- oh my! Move over, economy, the culture wars continue.

The Judicial Confirmation Network's most recent ad says it best: "Fixing the economy is crucial, but..." But? Yes, but what? "But America's principles and Constitution are threatened by one more liberal activist vote on the Supreme Court." The $250,000 ad buy goes out to Pennsylvania, Ohio and northern West Virginia.

On the other side of the spectrum, Winning Message Action Fund bashes McCain-Palin for wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade. The action fund recently sprang forth from NARAL Pro-Choice New York. The dramatic ad shows women lining up for mug shots, some cringing with the flash of a camera, going to jail because they had abortions after the practice was made illegal. (Generally, it should be noted, anti-abortion legislation mandates prosecution for the doctors, not the women.) The ad airs in Wisconsin and Ohio.

How often does one of these independent groups ask what effect its ads have on you? The Matthew 25 Network does that on its Web site, where you can find its latest radio ad "to share with Christians the faith that is the source of Obama's hope." The Web site says, "If this ad has blessed you, please donate here to help us keep it on the air."

The ad is mostly audio clips from an Obama speech about his faith -- in fact, the same speech that other groups carefully edited in order to attack the Democrat.

You don't have to give us any money, but let us know -- are you feeling blessed by any political ads these days?

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

Think of it as a rematch.

In 2004, Alan Keyes -- the Christian conservative activist and perennial long-shot candidate -- lost the Illinois Senate race by a landslide to a state senator named Barack Obama.

Now, as Obama runs for president, Keyes is the presidential nominee of America's Independent Party (which sees John McCain as too liberal and the Keyes campaign as an "extension" of the 2004 race against Obama.)

Obama certainly doesn't face much of a challenge from Keyes' candidacy, but separately two former top Keyes campaign officials are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars through a Keyes-founded political action committee to defeat Obama.

The Life and Liberty PAC, an anti-abortion organization, has spent nearly $700,000 since February on phone calls, direct mail and canvassing against Obama. The group's chair is Mary Parker Lewis, who served as Keyes' chief of staff for his presidential runs in 1996 and 2000, and his treasurer in the 2004 race against Obama. Life and Liberty's chief financial officer is Bill Constantine, who was treasurer for Keyes' 2000 run and is listed as assistant treasurer for the 2004 race. Constantine said that though Keyes founded the PAC, he isn't currently involved.

"The issues haven't changed," Constantine told us. "The reasons Barack Obama was bad for Illinois are the same reasons he's bad for America."

Life and Liberty PAC is just one component in a cluster of groups linked to Keyes.

Keyes, Lewis and Constantine also head up the Keyes-founded Declaration Foundation and affiliated Declaration Alliance, which has spent millions on the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a project that includes patroling the border for illegal immigrants. The constellation of organizations include several political action committees that are blasting out direct mail pieces against Obama.

The Declaration Alliance Minuteman Civil Defense Corps PAC, for which Lewis is treasurer and Constantine is listed as a contact, spent $72,000 in the last two months criticizing Obama. Constantine says the committee "has really gained more speed since Sarah Palin joined the McCain campaign." Before Palin, he said, there wasn't any "distinct difference" between the candidates on immigration. The group's mail is done by the Richard Norman Company, a popular direct-mail contractor among Republicans, which did work for Keyes' 2004 campaign as well as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

The more simply named Declaration Alliance PAC also reported spending $15,000 against Obama. Another related committee, the Minuteman PAC, spent $95,000 in opposition to Obama since September.

Yet another Keyes effort, RenewAmerica, has sent out recent newsletters calling Obama's campaign "Stalinist" and tying him to a "communist terrorist," aka the prime minister of Kenya.

Back when Keyes was fighting Obama for the Senate seat, he would send out attack points called "The Daily Obamanation." Obamanation was defined as "the act of saying something to a target audience with the sole purpose of currying favor, while in fact having acted in direct opposition to the expressed idea."

One of the pieces accused Obama of supporting sex education for kindergartners. Sound familiar? Another called him "The Criminals' Best Friend." Yet another said Obama supported infanticide. For Keyes' former aides, there should be plenty of material to recycle for the 2008 election.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

Our business here is to monitor indie political groups and their ads, and business has been good. Advocacy groups haven't run out of money. The bad news? They've run out of ideas.

Two new North Carolina ads follow story lines we've heard over and over before (not that that's a bad way to influence voters -- it just makes the blog more boring). Here's one from Freedom's Watch, blaming Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan for jacking up taxes. Our takeaway: She wants to tax candy?!

Next, Americans for Job Security denounces unions that want to take away secret ballots in union elections. "Hagan's on their side, not ours," the ad says, as an armored truck speeds out of Washington, presumably delivering union cash to Hagan. Watch the ad here. There's a virtually identical ad targeting the Democrat Ronnie Musgrove in a Mississippi Senate race.

Moving along to New Hampshire... Labor unions (those bad guys from the last ad) are piling on to Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) by, predictably, tying him to President Bush. The distinguishing factor? The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees uses a rope metaphor (we're at the "end of our rope") and the Service Employees International Union uses a country-store cash register gimmick. We don't have the AFSCME ad in blogable format, so you'll have to trust us. Here's the SEIU ad:

Now follow us to Minnesota for a breath of fresh ideas...

Here's a theme we haven't seen before in the battle between Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken: guns!

The National Rifle Association features a host of people concerned or angry at what they think Franken would do to their gun rights. They even get in a subtle jab at Obama: "I don't want 'change' when it comes to my Second Amendment rights."

Moving back down toward Georgia, we stop over in Kentucky. Campaign Money Watch has a confusing ad faulting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for allegedly using his considerable "clout" against the public's interest. It's confusing because after blaming McConnell for blocking lower prescription drug prices and supporting the privatization of Social Security, the ad ends by asking us to "tell him to stop opposing Fair Elections Now Act."

Say what? It's less confusing if you know that Campaign Money Watch is part of a group that advocates for public financing of elections, and the Fair Elections Now Act would do that. Is this ad an admission of the obvious, that people care more about pocketbook issues than public financing?

And finally, Georgia. In a sign that the Senate race is tightening, Freedom's Watch comes to the rescue of GOP incumbent Saxby Chambliss with an ad (below) boosting him for fighting to lower taxes. Freedom's Watch isn't really known for mushy thank-you ads (see North Carolina above) but then again, NPR political editor Ken Rudin still says the race "leans Republican." If it gets closer, then Georgians will likely get more negative ads.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

John McCain is "more of the same" and "not really in touch," while Barack Obama "gets it." That's the message for eight battleground states, in a $2 million radio ad campaign by the American Federation of Teachers.

It wasn't always such a love affair between the teachers union and Obama. During the presidential primaries, AFT gave $400,000 to the American Leadership Project, which ran ads backing Hillary Clinton and attacking Obama. That 527 also switched to a new target: McCain.

The AFT ads are running until the election in Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. They are tailored to each state by featuring the voices of local teachers and school staff saying -- sometimes showing off their regional accents -- why they think Obama is the best choice. In the New Mexico ad, someone shouts in Spanish, "Adelante Obama!"

The voices attest to "tough times" and people "struggling." The voiceover at the end says some version of "Barack Obama will make education a priority, jumpstart our economy and put middle class families first again." You can listen to one or all of them here.

The AFT represents 1.4 million people and is headed by Randi Weingarten, who is on the executive council of the AFL-CIO and on the Democratic National Committee. The union also helps fund American Rights At Work, which has run ads targeting Republicans in Senate races this year.

The other teachers' union, the National Education Association, stayed neutral in the primary contest between Obama and Clinton, but endorsed Obama for president as soon as the primaries ended.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

The one form of political advertising that's completely unregulated and free is the speech of an individual citizen, even when money amplifies that speech by putting it on the airwaves. Tim D'Annunzio, who describes himself as a "concerned North Carolina businessman," is doing just that. The former defense contractor has produced four several hard-hitting ads against Obama with now-familiar themes: Taxes, Abortion, Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers.

The only ad we know is running on TV (below) hits Obama on taxes. In it, D'Annunzio says he was living below the poverty line a decade ago, but built his company, Paraclete Armor & Equipment, into a workforce of hundreds. He says Obama's "promised tax increases will devastate people like me, by taking more than half of my business profits. This will force me to cut jobs and increase prices."

A former Army parachute jumper, D'Annunzio founded Paraclete to make body armor for the military and law enforcement. It provides equipment for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and makes millions from defense contracts.

The company received more than $26 million in federal contracts since 2001, mostly from the Air Force, according to the government database USASpending.gov. About $2.6 million of the contracts were awarded without competition. In addition, in 2006 the company recevied a $3.5 million loan from the Agriculture Department's Rural Business-Cooperative Service. In 2005, it received a $293,000 loan from the Small Business Administration.

Paraclete gave $2,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

A larger, public company, MSA (Mine Safety Appliances Co.), bought Paraclete for $30 million in 2006. (When D'Annunzio says he would have to lay off workers under Obama's tax plan, it's not clear what company he's talking about. We were unable to contact him.)

D'Annunzio's other ads are on his Web site. In one, he criticizes Obama's "ultra-liberal stand on abortion" and says, "As a Christian, I cannot vote for Barack Obama." Another focuses on former Weatherman radical Bill Ayers; D'Annunzio says, "I cannot vote for Barack Obama because of his association with terrorists." Yet another skewers Obama for his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and shows Obama without his hand over his heart during the national anthem. "We can't afford a president that uses racially charged comments to divide us," D'Annunzio says.

North Carolina has somehow become a home base for Obama-bashing independent operators. If you have any insights into why this is, we'd love to hear them. Besides D'Annunzio, the state is home to the Committee for Truth in Politics and RightChange.com, two of the biggest-spending conservative groups on the air.

We'll see soon enough how much money D'Annunzio is willing to commit.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.

Give 'em props for originality. Common Sense Issues recently launched a radio ad attacking South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat likely to win a race that's been basically ignored by other outside groups and the Beltway crowd.

Common Sense Issues also popped up in August in a nearby but even more unlikely place: North Dakota. That radio ad ridiculed Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), even though he isn't up for re-election till 2012. At least Johnson has a race, of sorts -- NPR political editor Ken Rudin rates it "Strong Democratic." Perhaps Common Sense Issues landed in South Dakota because its executive director, Patrick Davis, used to be executive director of the state Republican Party.

The new radio ad assails Johnson -- in a humorous way -- for voting against tighter regulation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae while collecting campaign contributions from the mortgage companies. It suggests that listeners "tell Tim Johnson to stop taking money from Washington lobbyists."

Common Sense Issues is best known for its "Trust Huckabee" campaign during the Republican presidential primaries. The group received $50,000 in February from Don Carter, who was the founding owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

A predecessor organization, Common Sense Ohio, created quite a ruckus in 2006. That operation -- which shares some leadership with Common Sense Issues -- ran radio ads and controversial robocalls supporting GOP candidates in that year's hot Senate races. It was bankrolled by Ohio investor and steadfast Republican donor Carl Lindner and Massachusetts anti-abortion, pro-abstinence advocate Raymond Ruddy.

This year, Lindner gave $400,000 to Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for Winning the Future, while Ruddy is the main financier for Born Alive Truth, which is running anti-Obama ads. And Common Sense is relegated to the Dakotas. Times have changed.

This originally appeared on The Secret Money Project Blog, a joint project of CIR and National Public Radio tracking the hidden cash in the 2008 election.