Swift Boats vs. the Media
When the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth first got started, they probably thought they were taking on John Kerry.Boy, where they wrong!
The press has made every attempt to tie the veterans to Republicans, repeatedly noting that it got started with a generous gift from Republican donor Bob Perry:
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is registered with the Federal Election Commission as a so-called 527 organization, not affiliated with any party. It got off the ground with a $100,000 donation from Texas homebuilder Bob J. Perry, a prominent Republican donor.A search of Perry's donations for the last three election cycles shows that he is indeed generous, giving a total of $188,000 to various Republican candidates and causes.
And yet I never seem to read that MoveOn.org is a Democrat organization. I wonder why.
And calling Perry a "generous donor" is really a matter of perspective. Take a look at the top 25 contributors to 527s for the 2004 election cycle. Who do you think tops the list? George Soros?
No, Soros is second with a measely $12.6 million, well behind Peter Lewis who has thrown out over $14 million.
How far down the list must you go to find a conservative? Carl Lindner is tied for tenth place just a little over one million dollars. Paul Singer is tied for 22nd with half that.
Together, they account for just 2.6% of the $57,713,283 donated to 527s by the top 25 donors.
Liberals account for 97.4% of the top donations to 527s, giving over $56 million.
Yet they myth continues that it is the Republican Party that is the party of the rich.
Roy F. Hoffman, a retired admiral and chairman of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, said the first TV ad, which ran for one week in Ohio, Wisconsin and West Virginia at a cost of $550,000, got so much national news attention that it generated an additional $400,000 from 8,000 donors around the country.Doing the math, the average donation from these 8,000 people is $50.
To match the donations made by 23 rich liberals, 1,123,865 people would have to donate $50 each.
As soon as I make this post I'm going to go change that number to 1,123,864.
If you click here to go to the Swift Boat Vets, we can change that number to 1,123,863.
Making a difference, $50 at a time. Ain't no rich liberal commie bastard gonna buy an election in America while the heartland is still American.
Update: Say Anything has more on a related matter: in a transparent society one would expect full disclosure of campaign donations. Go see the numbers.
Update: Truth Laid Bear finds a neat graphical display of the disclosure stats for all the candidates. Kerry ranks last save for Gen. Clark. I wonder what these guys are hiding?
Blog post #3347 in category
Media Spin
posted 16 August 04
Truly superior bloggers that reference Swift Boats vs. the Media:
» Some Perspective on 527 Donors
from Les Jones Blog:
Kerry defenders and the media in general like to bring up the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's status as a 527, and the fact that Bob Perry, a rich Texan with Republican ties, gave the group $100,000 in seed money. AlphaPatriot points to the OpenSecrets... [Read More]
Tracked on August 16, 2004 7:45 AM
» Kerry Condemns Ad
from New Trommetter Times:
Waa, waa, waaa... [Read More]
Tracked on August 17, 2004 3:03 PM
» Submitted for Your Approval
from Watcher of Weasels:
First off... any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now... here are all the links submitted by members of the Watcher's Council for this week's vote. Council links:Libe... [Read More]
Tracked on August 17, 2004 11:01 PM
» RepublicansDemocrats are the party of the rich
from Physics Geek:
Alpha Patriot has the lowdown and the links. Excerpt: ...Take a look at the top 25 contributors to 527s for the 2004 election cycle. Who do you think tops the list? George Soros? No, Soros is second with a measely... [Read More]
Tracked on August 18, 2004 8:59 AM
» The Council Has Spoken!
from Watcher of Weasels:
First off... any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now... the winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Swift Boats vs. the Media by Alpha Patrio... [Read More]
Tracked on August 19, 2004 11:15 PM
» The Council Hath Spoken
from Ubique Patriam Reminisci:
Boy, what a time to get started. Some great entries in this week's Watcher's Council, and some great results. Hearty congratulations to AlphaPatriot for winning this week's Council category with the very informative and interesting entry Swift Boats... [Read More]
Tracked on August 20, 2004 2:03 AM
» The Council Has Spoken!
from Watcher of Weasels:
First off... any spambots reading this should immediately go here, here, here, and here. Die spambots, die! And now... the winning entries in the Watcher's Council vote for this week are Swift Boats vs. the Media by Alpha Patrio... [Read More]
Tracked on August 20, 2004 2:33 AM
» THE COUNCIL HAS SPOKEN.
from The SmarterCop:
Congratulations to this week's Watcher's Council winners! Council member: Alpha Patriot, with Swift Boats vs. the Media Non-council member: Captain's Quarters, The Alston Story Goes Back Farther Than First Thought You should check out all of the winnin... [Read More]
Tracked on August 20, 2004 7:54 AM
» The Council Has Spoken
from King of Fools:
The Watcher's Council has met and voted on the posts of the week: Winning Council Entry: Swift Boats vs. the Media Alpha Patriot Winning Non-Council Entry: The Alston Story Goes Back Farther Than First Thought Captain's Quarters Happy Friday.... [Read More]
Tracked on August 20, 2004 9:24 AM
» The Council Has Spoken ! ! !
from e-Claire:
First, we welcome Chadster of Ubique Patriam Reminisci to the Watchers Council. Glad to have ya onboard! This week's winners are: Swift Boats vs The Media by Alpha Patriot, and The Alson Story Goes Back Farther Than First Thought by... [Read More]
Tracked on August 20, 2004 8:08 PM
» Hey, I Won!
from Captain's Quarters:
I discovered when going through my e-mail ... belatedly ... that I won the Watchers Council contest for non-Council post of the week! The Watcher of Weasels was kind enough to let me know (it's been a busy week!) I... [Read More]
Tracked on August 20, 2004 9:06 PM
» Watcher's Council
from damnum absque injuria:
The Council has spoken. Congratulations to Alpha Patriot for the winning Council entry, Swift Boats vs. the Media, and to Captain Ed Morrissey for the winning non-Council entry, "The Alston Story Goes Back Farther Than First Thought." [Read More]
Tracked on August 21, 2004 3:08 AM
» Watcher of Weasels
from Patriot Paradox:
As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher's Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around... per the Watcher's instructions, I am submitting one... [Read More]
Tracked on August 22, 2004 8:25 AM
» 527's in Perspective
from The Truth Laid Bear:
"They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to... [Read More]
Tracked on August 22, 2004 9:51 AM
» Council Winners
from Patterico's Pontifications:
The winners of the weekly Watcher's Council vote for best posts of the week were announced here. Congratulations to AlphaPatriot for the winning Council entry, Swift Boats vs. the Media, and to Captain's Quarters for once again taking the winning... [Read More]
Tracked on August 22, 2004 2:32 PM
» 527's in Perspective
from The Truth Laid Bear:
"They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to... [Read More]
Tracked on August 22, 2004 4:06 PM
» Media Double Standard On Swift Boat Vets
from I love Jet Noise:
With all the allegations of sinister partisan connections and 'conservative media bias" floating about, I thought it might be amusing to compare funding, media attention, and attitudes toward the Swift Boat Vets and pro-Kerry 527s involved in this elec... [Read More]
Tracked on August 22, 2004 4:36 PM