MoveOn.org says it will limit size of donations to $5,000

By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

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MoveOn.org, one of the best-financed of the independent, liberal and controversial political groups spending millions to defeat President Bush, is shifting its fund-raising and campaign strategy. The group said yesterday it will stop taking large donations from rich backers and instead build a more conventional political action committee with smaller donations.

MoveOn's new approach means it has to raise money from a broader base of contributors but will face fewer restrictions on how the money can be spent. It means MoveOn could continue operations through November even if the Federal Election Commission cracks down on the new field of independent political groups, known as 527 groups, that Republicans have said are an illegal front for Sen. John Kerry and the Democratic Party.

In their complaint to the FEC about MoveOn, America Coming Together and other 527s, the Bush campaign and the Republican National Committee also accused 27 top donors, including five from the Seattle area, of breaking federal campaign law by contributing to the groups.

MoveOn said its new policy has nothing to do with that complaint. Still, the move does eliminate uncertainty about MoveOn's legal status.

"If the FEC came out one way, everything would be fine for them, but if it came out the other way it would so dramatically change their situation. It's the end of the world as you know it," said Paul Sanford, general counsel for the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog. "If they can do this, it solves their problems."

MoveOn says it now hopes to raise $50 million, which would make it the biggest PAC ever, and spend the money on anti-Bush TV ads, a get-out-the-vote effort and direct contributions to Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, as well as congressional and state candidates, said MoveOn executive director Eli Pariser.

To avoid running afoul of federal fund-raising restrictions, MoveOn has financed "issue ads" that criticized Bush's record, but stopped short of advocating a vote for Kerry or a vote against Bush.

"Perhaps they understand that they have been blatantly circumventing campaign law," said Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Bush re-election campaign. She said all 527s "that are not working within the bounds of the law should cease their illegal activity."

MoveOn officials say the push to shift strategy comes from MoveOn supporters, not Republican complaints or worries about FEC action.

"People are shifting their attention from a focus on issues to a focus on candidates, especially now that a Democratic nominee is known," said MoveOn founder and president Wes Boyd. "The MoveOn PAC is well suited for that demand from MoveOn members."

The MoveOn PAC, like all PACs, is limited to contributions of $5,000 and less. But unlike the 527 groups, it is allowed to directly support candidates for office.

MoveOn.org was founded in 1998 to oppose the impeachment of President Clinton.

It has continued as a liberal grassroots campaign organization and has raised millions of dollars for its campaign against Bush. It has a massive network of supporters and claims 1.7 million "on-line activists" that have contributed to various MoveOn campaigns.

A lot of MoveOn's money went to the MoveOn Voter Fund, known as a 527 group for the IRS code it operates under. After the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law prohibited unregulated soft money donations to the political parties, 527 groups sprung up among Democratic interest groups as a way to combat Republicans' traditional fund-raising advantage.

The Voter Fund attracted donations from some of the most generous Democratic campaign financiers in the country, including international financier George Soros.

MoveOn contributors from this area include RealNetworks founder Rob Glaser, Costco co-founders Jeff Brotman and James Sinegal, investor James Roush, and software entrepreneur and environmental philanthropist Paul Brainerd.

The $50 million Pariser said MoveOn will raise would easily make it the best funded PAC ever.

In the 2000 campaign season, the largest PAC was Emily's List, a women's fund-raising organization, which reported raising $21 million. The NRA was second, with $17.8 million.

"Without a doubt, this is our most ambitious project yet," Pariser said in a teleconference with reporters. But he says MoveOn has never set a fund-raising goal it did not exceed. Pariser said the goal is to get 500,000 people to donate $100 each.

If MoveOn reaches its $50 million goal, Pariser said about $10 million will be spent on a get-out-the-vote drive, $20 million on presidential campaign TV ads and $20 million in direct contributions to Kerry and other candidates.

MoveOn is concentrating its efforts in swing states where the presidential election is expected to be close. Just as with TV commercials, donations to other candidates will be focused on those states where strong Democratic campaigns could help boost voter turnout for Kerry.

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

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