They whine about everything, don't they?
GOP Complaint Cites Pro-Democratic Groups
By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 1, 2004; Page A09
The Bush campaign and the Republican Party filed charges yesterday with the Federal Election Commission accusing the Kerry campaign and seven "independent" organizations of conducting a criminal conspiracy to inject large amounts of "soft money" into the 2004 election.
The Bush campaign, which this month has spent an unprecedented $41.8 million on television ads, many of them attacking Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), has become increasingly frustrated by the ability of Kerry and such "independent" groups as MoveOn.org and the Media Fund to counter with nearly $20 million in ads.
In a separate rule-making process expected to take months, the FEC is addressing many of the issues raised by the Bush-RNC complaint. The complaint filed yesterday is designed to force a much quicker decision on the legality of the activities of the Kerry campaign and allied groups. A ruling against the Democrats would cut off a major source of campaign support for Kerry.
In an unusual move for a party traditionally opposed to campaign finance laws and government regulation, the GOP has turned increasingly to the federal regulatory system, especially the FEC, to restrict, if not silence, Kerry allies.
