Freedom's Watch

Last updated

Freedom's Watch was a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) lobbying organization. Freedom's Watch was supportive of the George W. Bush administration's positions in the War on Terror and of Republican Congressional candidates. The group was run and supported, in part, by several former officials of the Bush administration. [1] The organization stated that its goal was "educating individuals about and advancing public policies that protect America’s interests at home and abroad, foster economic prosperity, and strengthen families." [2] In the 2008 election cycle, Freedom's Watch purchased advertisements in support of Republican congressional candidates.

Contents

Bradley A. Blakeman, Republican strategist and former member of George W. Bush's senior staff, served as President.

In December 2008, the organization's board of directors decided to shut it down at the end of 2008. [3]

Origins

Freedom's Watch had a working relationship with the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and the American Enterprise Institute. [4] The group was conceived at a Florida meeting of the RJC in March 2007 [5] [6] in part to counter MoveOn.org and help the Bush administration sell its Iraq policy. [4] It was founded by a 12 people, [5] most notably Sheldon Adelson, who donated almost all of its initial funding. [7] Four out of five members of Freedom's Watch original board were Republican Jews, and four of the eight initial donors were Jewish, though board member Matt Brooks said "it would be a mistake to regard the group as having a Jewish direction," and noted that "half of the donors contributing to the group's first $15 million ad campaign are not Jewish." [8] [9]

In 2008, the group became paralyzed by internal problems and plagued by gridlock and infighting, according to Republican operatives who criticized Adelson's insistence on parceling out money project by project, which limited the group's ability to plan and be nimble. [7] For example, the organization spent weeks working on a package for the presidential election, but the plan did not go forward. [7] Some staff members blamed the problems on major donors who micro-managed the management of the start-up.

Positions

Freedom's Watch supported President George W. Bush's Iraq War policies. "More and more Democratic and Republican members agree: The surge in Iraq is working," according to one ad. "Victory is America's only choice." [10] The group also claimed that Iran is a grave threat to the United States and Israel. According to the group's president, "If Hitler's warnings were heeded when he wrote Mein Kampf , he could have been stopped." Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he continued, "is giving all the same kind of warning signs to us, and the region—he wants the destruction of the United States and the destruction of Israel." One ad called Ahmadinejad "a terrorist." [5]

Board

The original president was Bradley Blakeman, though he resigned in March 2008 after a series of high-level staff departures. [11]

Notable donors

Freedom's Watch's donors included: [12]

Advertising

On August 22, 2007, Freedom's Watch announced a $15 million advertising and grass-roots campaign in 20 U.S. states to maintain Republican support for President Bush's policies. [12] [13] The advertising campaign emphasized the sacrifice of U.S. troops and their families in Iraq. As The New York Times wrote, "Several of the group's spots suggested that Iraq, rather than Al Qaeda, was behind the September 11 attacks, even though the independent September 11 commission investigation and other inquiries found no evidence of Iraq's involvement." [5] ABC News, among others, concurred: "The ads also link the war with September 11, despite no reliable evidence Iraq played any role in those attacks." [14] In one advertisement, a war widow claims, "I lost two family members to Al Qaeda—my uncle, a firefighter, on 9/11, and my husband, Travis, in Iraq. Congress did the right thing, voting to defeat terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan," adding that, "Switching their votes now, for political reasons, it will mean more attacks in America." In another ad, an Iraq war veteran states, "They attacked us, and they will again. They won't stop in Iraq." [14]

On September 13, the group aired a new television ad, challenging a MoveOn.org advertisement which questioned the integrity of General David Petraeus saying "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" and "Cooking the Books for the White House." [15] The advertisement stated, "Name calling, charges of betrayal it's despicable. It's what MoveOn shamefully does—and it's wrong. America and the forces of freedom are winning. MoveOn is losing. Call your Congressman and Senator. Tell them to condemn MoveOn." They also planned to run print advertisements on the subject. [16]

Freedom's Watch also purchased advertisements during the 2008 election cycle in support of Republican congressional candidates. For example, the group purchased $550,000 in advertising in the Mississippi 1st district special election in support of Republican candidate Greg Davis. [17] The group also ran ads in support of Republican candidates in two other special elections to fill vacant house seats in Illinois and Louisiana. All three Republicans were subsequently defeated by their Democratic challengers in historically Republican districts.

Criticism

In 2008, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee charged that, in a Congressional race in Louisiana, Freedom's Watch was running a television advertisement with a script that came from the National Republican Congressional Committee. Such coordination with the NRCC would be illegal for Freedom's Watch because of the latter's status as an independent group. A media consultant working for Freedom's Watch responded that the apparent origin of the script with the NRCC was the result of an innocent mistake. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MoveOn</span> American grassroots progressive campaigning community

MoveOn is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest and most impactful grassroots progressive campaigning communities in the United States, with a membership of millions. MoveOn did not endorse a candidate during the 2020 presidential primary campaign; it then endorsed and actively supported Joe Biden in the general election. Rahna Epting has been Executive Director of MoveOn Civic Action and MoveOn Political Action since 2019.

Negative campaigning is the process of deliberately spreading negative information about someone or something to worsen the public image of the described. A colloquial, and somewhat more derogatory, term for the practice is mudslinging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attack ad</span> Political ad meant to insult an opposing candidate or party

In political campaigns, an attack ad is an advertisement designed to wage a personal attack against an opposing candidate or political party in order to gain support for the attacking candidate and attract voters. Attack ads often form part of negative campaigning or smear campaigns, and in large or well-financed campaigns, may be disseminated via mass media.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is the Republican Hill committee which works to elect Republicans to the United States House of Representatives.

The "Stand By Your Ad" provision (SBYA) of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, enacted in 2002, requires candidates in the United States for federal political office, as well as interest groups and political parties supporting or opposing a candidate, to include in political advertisements on television and radio "a statement by the candidate that identifies the candidate and states that the candidate has approved the communication". The provision was intended to force political candidates running any campaign for office in the United States to associate themselves with their television and radio advertising, thereby discouraging them from making controversial claims or attack ads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldon Adelson</span> American businessman (1933–2021)

Sheldon Gary Adelson was an American businessman, investor, political donor, and philanthropist. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which owns the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, and the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited, which operated The Venetian Las Vegas and the Sands Expo and Convention Center before selling the properties in early 2022. He owned the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, the Israeli weekly newspaper Makor Rishon, and the American daily newspaper the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign advertising</span> Use of an advertising campaign through the media to influence a political debate

In politics, campaign advertising is propaganda through the media to influence a political debate and, ultimately, Voting. Political consultants and political campaign staff design these ads. Many countries restrict the use of broadcast media to broadcast political messages. In the European Union, many countries do not permit paid-for TV or radio advertising for fear that wealthy groups will gain control of airtime, making fair play impossible and distorting the political debate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Sembler</span> American diplomat (1930–2023)

Melvin Floyd Sembler was an American diplomat who was the United States Ambassador to Italy (2001–2005), and Ambassador to Australia and Nauru (1989–1993). He has also served as chairman of the board of the Sembler Company, which develops and manages shopping centers, and co-founder of Straight, Inc., a controversial drug-treatment center. Sembler was the chairman of the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust, and was a co-chair of the Florida Finance Committee for Mitt Romney.

"Bear", a television commercial known for and often referred to by its opening line "There is a bear in the woods", was created for the 1984 U.S. presidential campaign of Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan. The commercial featured a grizzly bear wandering through a forest, accompanied by narration suggesting that the bear could be dangerous and that it would be wise to be prepared for that possibility. In the final scene, a man appears and the bear takes a step back. The ad ends with a picture of Reagan and the tagline: "President Reagan: Prepared for Peace."

Vets for Freedom is an American political advocacy organization founded in 2006 by veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars, with connections to Republican Party leaders. The group was initially founded as a 527 group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republican Jewish Coalition</span> American political lobbying group

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), formerly the National Jewish Coalition, founded in 1985, is a political group in the United States that supports Jewish Republicans. The organization has more than 47 chapters throughout the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VoteVets.org</span> American progressive non-profit organization

VoteVets.org is a progressive political action committee (PAC) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Jewish Democratic Council</span> Dissolved political lobbying organization

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) was a political lobbying organization that advocated within the Democratic Party for viewpoints aligned with the American Jewish community and in support of the state of Israel, and within the political process generally, between 1990 and about 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq</span>

The Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq was a two-part report released on September 10, 2007 by General of the Multinational force in Iraq David H. Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on progress by the Iraqi government in the ongoing Iraq War.

The MoveOn.org ad controversy began when the U.S. anti-war liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org published a full-page ad in The New York Times on September 10, 2007, accusing General David H. Petraeus of "cooking the books for the White House". The ad also labeled him "General Betray Us". The organization created the ad in response to Petraeus' Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq. MoveOn hosted pages on its website about the ad and their reasons behind it from 2007 to June 23, 2010. On June 23, 2010, after President Obama nominated General Petraeus to be the new top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, MoveOn erased these webpages and any reference to them from its website.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), founded in 2004, is a libertarian conservative political advocacy group in the United States affiliated with brothers Charles Koch and the late David Koch. As the Koch family's primary political advocacy group, it has been viewed as one of the most influential American conservative organizations.

The American Action Network (AAN) is a nonprofit, conservative issue advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., aligned to the Republican Party. It was established in 2010 by Fred Malek and Norm Coleman as a 501(c)(4) organization.

The American Future Fund is a 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization based in Iowa.

Club for Growth Action is an independent-expenditure only committee or Super PAC with a stated mission of "defeating big-government politicians and replacing them with pro-growth, limited government conservatives." Club for Growth Action spends money running political advertising campaigns in congressional races throughout the country.

The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) is a Super PAC dedicated to electing Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives. The Super PAC, which was closely linked to former House Speaker John Boehner and House GOP leadership, was founded in 2011 and spent nearly $10 million in the 2012 cycle electing Republican candidates. Following Boehner's resignation from the U.S. Congress and the election of Paul D. Ryan as Speaker of the House, Congressional Leadership Fund became closely linked to Ryan.

References

  1. ↑ The donors behind those new TV ads - First Read - msnbc.com
  2. ↑ "Freedom's Watch web site: 'About Us' page". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  3. ↑ Ward, Jon (December 8, 2008). "Freedom's Watch to shut at end of month". The Washington Times .
  4. 1 2 3 Peter Stone (January 2008). "Betting on Red". Mother Jones.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Don Van Natta (2007-09-30). "Big Coffers and a Rising Voice Lift Group on the Right". The New York Times .
  6. ↑ Kane, Paul; Weisman, Jonathan (2008-01-20). "A Conservative Answer to MoveOn". Washington Post . Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Michael Luo (2008-04-12). "Great Expectations for a Conservative Group Seem All but Dashed". The New York Times .
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pro-'surge' group is almost all Jewish". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2007-08-24. Archived from the original on 2007-09-02.
  9. ↑ Philip Weiss (2007-10-08). "Surge Protectors". The American Conservative.
  10. ↑ "Battle over Iraq strategy" New York Times retrieved 30 September 2007
  11. ↑ Chris Cilliza (2008-03-07). "Blakeman Leaves Freedom's Watch". The Washington Post .
  12. 1 2 "Left, Right Proxies Push on Iraq". The Washington Post . 2007-08-23.
  13. ↑ "Democrats Refocus Message on Iraq After Military Gains." Washington Post
  14. 1 2 Jake Tapper; Avery Miller (2007-08-22). "Selling the War, Through Advertising". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-09-30.
  15. ↑ "GOP calls on top Senate Dem to condemn anti-Petraeus ad - CNN.com". CNN. 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
  16. ↑ "Pro-Bush group airs new war ads" Associated Press
  17. ↑ A House Race Holds Clues for GOP, Susan Davis, The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2008.
  18. ↑ Kane, Paul (April 16, 2008). "Democrats Accuse GOP Campaign Arm Of Covertly Writing Ad". The Washington Post . pp. A03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.