'Swift Boat' ads backer paying for Colo. spot


An image from the $246,000 "Amnesty" ad attacking former state Sen. Ed Perlmutter on immigration in Denver's 7th Congressional race. The ad buy was financed by Texas homebuilder Bob J. Perry.

By Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News
October 17, 2006

The major Republican backer of the controversial Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads that torpedoed John Kerry in 2004 is providing the money behind a negative ad playing in suburban Denver's 7th Congressional race.
Texas homebuilder Bob J. Perry, who has close ties with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and White House political strategist Karl Rove, has recently pumped at least $7 million into groups supporting Republicans and taking out attack ads against Democratic congressional candidates across the U.S.One of those ads targets former state Sen. Ed Perlmutter for being soft on immigration, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The 30-second spot, called "Amnesty," was bought for $246,000 by a new group called "Americans for Honesty on Issues." The ad buy was financed by Perry.

Perlmutter is locked in a tightening race with Republican Rick O'Donnell for control of the swing seat left open by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez.

Both campaigns said Monday that they were unaware of Swiftboat's ties to the immigration ad.

"It is a surprise that the Swiftboat group is playing an ad in the 7th, but it isn't a surprise that they want Rick O'Donnell in Congress so he can rubber-stamp the Republican agenda," Perlmutter spokesman Scott Chase said.

O'Donnell's campaign condemned the first version of the ad, which was found to be false. And his spokesman Jonathan Tee said that such 527 groups - named after the section of the federal finance laws that allow them to raise and spend money outside normal campaign limits - were "another example of the problem in politics."

The first version of the ad, which aired Oct. 9, inaccurately stated that Perlmutter passed legislation as a state senator defining services for illegal immigrants. In fact, the legislation was aimed at legal immigrants.The group pulled the spot after Perlmutter's campaign and a local television station challenged the ad's truthfulness. It was immediately replaced with a similar ad.

The new ad truthfully says, "Ed Perlmutter favors an earned path to citizenship for illegal immigrants." It was still airing Monday.

"Americans for Honesty" is one of at least two groups being financed this year by Perry. The other is the Economic Freedom Fund, which was launched in California.

Perry was the single largest contributor to the Swiftboat group in 2004. In all, he donated more than $8 million to 527 groups that election cycle. The Swiftboat ads featured a group of Vietnam veterans making unsubstantiated allegations challenging Kerry's record of wartime heroism. Kerry's hesitation to fight back was seen as major flaw in his campaign to defeat President Bush.

Since then, the word swiftboat has become a staple in the debate on the ethics of using non-supported allegations to attack candidates or ideas.

Republicans aren't the only ones swiftboating in the 7th. "We've been Strykered," Tee quipped.

Colorado Democrats Pat Stryker and Tim Gil paid a combined $160,000 last month to fund an ad attacking O'Donnell on Social Security, FEC filings also show.

The ad, fronted by the group Too Extreme for Colorado, pointed out that O'Donnell once wrote he wanted to slay Social Security. It said he now supports privatizing Social Security.

"It distorted the record and should have been pulled," Tee said.

In part because of that ad, O'Donnell went on the air soon after with an ad apologizing for what he wrote and promising to protect, not privatize, the program.

Ever been 'swiftboated'?

The phenomenon of "getting swiftboated" has spread into the English vernacular. Here is its definition, according to www.urbandictionary.com:

"Swiftboated - To be unfairly and inaccurately attacked relentlessly in the media."