The Center for Public Integrity

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — While Democrats have touted their grassroots fundraising efforts for the 2012 Democratic National Convention, deep-pocketed corporate donors are helping underwrite the event.

Among the corporate sponsors at the Charlotte convention: AT&T Inc., Bank of America, Duke Energy, Time Warner Cable, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, UnitedHealth Group, Piedmont Natural Gas, US Airways and law and lobbying firm McGuireWoods.

The corporate sponsorship appears to fly in the face of the Democrats’ pledge to host a “people’s convention.”

The party’s 2012 “host committee” is not accepting contributions from corporations, lobbyists and political action committees. Democrats also capped how much money individuals can give at $100,000.

But the party is accepting in-kind donations from corporate firms. In addition, a second nonprofit, called “New American City” was established in May to “defray” administrative expenses and other costs. New American City does accept corporate money.

The exact levels of these companies’ financial support won’t be known until mid-October when filings will be submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Like their GOP counterparts, the Democrats received about $18 million in public funding to finance their convention. And both parties raised tens of millions of additional dollars, funneled through nonprofit host committees that help facilitate the events.

Host committees have traditionally relied on corporate funders but top Democratic leaders — including President Barack Obama, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro — all penned solicitations aimed at small-dollar donors.

“There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery,” President Barack Obama’s voice says as the camera pans over men and women lying on their backs across a dirt road.

A man in a plaid shirt rolls over. He stands up. In his hands is a sign saying, “I want a job when I graduate.”

“I’m an American. Not a bump in the road,” he says.

One by one, each person lying on the road stands up, holding a sign about unemployment, repeating, “I’m an American. Not a bump in the road.”

The new ad from the Republican National Committee seeks to hit Obama where Americans perceive his weakness to be — in unemployment and economic recovery.

Obama’s management of the economy may be the single biggest obstacle to his re-election, and more than half of Americans disapprove of his economic management, according to a poll from The New York Times/CBS.

But is this fair?

A new report from The Economist suggests that unemployment would have actually been higher without Obama’s $800 billion stimulus package, which Republican outside spending groups have repeatedly referred to as the “failed stimulus.”

“Conservatives say stimulus does not work,” says The Economist.  But “most impartial work suggests they are wrong.”

The magazine cites a study from Daniel Wilson of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, which found that stimulus spending created or saved 3.4 million jobs, which echoes what the Congressional Budget Office estimated.

Dark-horse presidential candidates Gary Johnson and Virgil Goode may not be household names, but with a little help from super PACs, they could peel away precious support from Republican Mitt Romney and possibly even President Barack Obama in some key state races.

The conservative Constitution Party, which seeks to “restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations,” has nominated Goode, a former congressman from Virginia, for president, potentially taking votes away from Romney in what has become a presidential swing state.

Meanwhile, Johnson, a former two-term GOP governor of New Mexico who failed to win the 2012 Republican presidential nod, has been nominated by the Libertarian Party — a perch from which he could throw a wrench in the plans of both Obama and Romney in several swing states.

Already, at least three pro-Libertarian super PACs have registered with the Federal Election Commission to support Johnson. And former Nixon administration operative Roger Stone, famous for sporting a tattoo of the disgraced president on his back, has touted a pro-Johnson super PAC.

Super PACs are allowed to collect unlimited contributions from individuals, unions and corporations to produce political advertisements that are not coordinated with any candidate. They were made possible in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision.

Goode, a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment and vocal opponent of abortion, served six terms in Congress — first as a Democrat, then as an independent and finally as a Republican, until he was unseated in 2008. Third-party candidates like Goode have no chance of winning the White House, but one only need look to the 2000 presidential election to be reminded of their potential impact.

New ads in Illinois and Wisconsin mark what the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says is its first foray into those states with independent television advertising, Federal Election Commission reports show.

Three ads will air in congressional districts in those states aiming to convince undecided voters to elect Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In Illinois’ newly created 13th District, “Enough Is Enough” attacks Rodney Davis, the GOP nominee for U.S. House. The ad highlights Davis’ appearance on the “clout list” of disgraced former Gov. George Ryan, who is in jail on corruption charges.

Davis’ campaign criticized the DCCC ad Wednesday morning saying that Davis was added to the list without his “approval, consent of knowledge” and “he never asked for a favor, job or political help.”

Davis, an aide to U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., faces physician David Gill, the Democrat, in the fall.

In Illinois’ 12th District, the DCCC released “Protecting the Middle Class,” supporting Gen. Bill Enyart. A Democrat, Enyart was the commander of the Illinois National Guard.

Enyart faces Republican Jason Plummer in the bid to win the seat of retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Costello in what is expected to be a competitive race.

The DCCC also released an ad attacking Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., who is running for re-election in Wisconsin’s 7th District. Duffy rose to fame as a star on MTV’s “Real World” in 1997, later became a sports commentator for ESPN and then served as a Wisconsin district attorney.

Until recently, the National Rifle Association’s primary involvement in the 2012 election has been limited to renting booths at state fairs and circulating flyers and bumper stickers, plus the occasional low-budget TV or radio buy.

But thanks to the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the powerful gun rights group has stepped up its game. A $420,000 ad buy last week followed by a $358,000 buy reported Tuesday shows the NRA is ready to invest in more than just convincing fair- and rodeo-goers to vote against President Barack Obama.

The NRA Institute for Legislative Action’s new ads, released Monday, attack the records of Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who are both running for U.S. Senate — and Federal Election Commission filings indicate Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is the next target.

“Bill Nelson Needs to Go” notes the Florida senator’s approval of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said in a 2004 ruling that gun ownership is “not a fundamental right.”

“You can’t be a pro-gun senator when you back anti-gun judges,” the ad says.

“Stand for Freedom, Stand against Tim Kaine” says that Kaine received a grade of “F” from the NRA for making gun control part of the Democratic National Committee’s agenda when he was chairman.

The NRA Institute for Legislative Action is the lobbying arm of the NRA, according to its website. The institute was established in 1975 both to pursue the group’s legislative agenda and to educate the public.

An anti-abortion group released an ad featuring an “abortion survivor” accusing then-Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama of voting to “deny basic, constitutional protections for babies born alive from an abortion.”

The nonprofit Susan B. Anthony List ad references the fracas that surrounded President Obama’s voting record on a bill that would protect babies that have survived abortions.

“How Will You Answer?” features Melissa Ohden.

“I’m going to tell you something you may not know. Many children, more than you might think, actually survived failed abortions and are born alive,” Ohden says. “I know, because I’m one of them.”

How Will You Answer? will air in Missouri at a cost of $150,000. Women’s rights have consumed the public conversation following remarks about “legitimate rape” made by the state’s Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Todd Akin.

Ohden refers to Obama’s votes in the Illinois State Senate against the Illinois Born Alive Protection Act in 2001, an issue first brought to national attention in 2008 by nurse-turned-activist Jill Stanek.

The ad implies Obama would leave babies who survive abortions to die, which is inaccurate. Obama voted against the act, but noted Illinois state law requires physicians to use life-saving measures should an aborted fetus in fact be born alive.

Obama maintained that his primary opposition to the state bill — of which the U.S. Congress passed a federal version in 2002 — was that it undermines Roe v. Wade and a women’s right to choose.

Furthermore, according to Illinois news media, there was no evidence that babies born alive after failed abortions were being left to die.

But Stanek, the anti-abortion nurse-activist, testified that she saw babies being abandoned to die at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill.

As Republicans have battled for the soul of their party in primaries across the country, the deep-pocketed, anti-tax Club for Growth has proved itself a force to be reckoned with.

If heavily favored Rep. Jeff Flake prevails Tuesday in Arizona over businessman Wil Cardon, the Club will mark three wins against two losses among its favored candidates in U.S. Senate GOP primary races.

Of about five-dozen organizations that spent a combined $32 million on independent expenditures in Republican Senate primaries this year, Club for Growth ranks No. 1, having spent more than $10 million, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of Federal Election Commission records.

The Club’s super PAC, which is allowed to accept unlimited contributions and spend the funds on ads attacking or backing candidates, is responsible for nearly all of this spending.

Flake has cultivated a reputation in Washington as an anti-earmark crusader, routinely earning a 100 percent favorable rating from the Club for his voting record. He was also one of the first senators to sign the Club’s pledge to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare reform law.

Flake was the first candidate of the 2012 election cycle endorsed by the group back in February of 2011.

The Club has spent more than $1 million supporting Flake through its nonprofit, political action committee and its Club for Growth Action super PAC — that’s about 70 percent of the $1.5 million spent by outside groups on independent expenditures in the Arizona contest.

Republicans are trying to peel away support from popular former Gov. Angus King, an independent, who is favored to win a U.S. Senate seat made more competitive by the retirement of senior Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe.

Maine Freedom, a new super PAC, spent $137,000 on an ad supporting Cynthia Dill, the Democratic candidate and opposing King. The  super PAC has some strong Republican connections.

As reported Friday by the Bangor Daily News, the group's treasurer is Michael Adams, general counsel for the Republican Governors Association. Adams is also a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, according to his profile at law firm Dinsmore & Shohl, where he is an elections lawyer.

The super PAC’s assistant treasurer, Erin Berry, is also a former lawyer for the RGA and previously worked at the Republican State Leadership Committee, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Republicans apparently hope to split the Democratic vote between King and Dill, thus giving Republican candidate, Charlie Summers, a chance at victory.

The RGA, a politically active nonprofitwhose mission is to elect Republican governors, is not involved with the Maine Freedom super PAC, according to spokesman Mike Schrimpf.

“The RGA has zero involvement with the group. We are not funding it, helping with strategy, anything,” Schrimpf said in an email to the Center. “The only connection is the RGA’s counsel, Mike Adams.”

The Republican nominating convention that kicks off this week in Tampa has been funded by tens of millions of dollars in corporate contributions, the exact source of which won’t be known until after the party is over.

But it’s a sure bet that there are at least two big donors from the 2008 event that won’t be giving this time around — American International Group and Freddie Mac.

The two institutions together gave $1 million to the Republican convention host committee. A few months after the conclusion of the convention they were in danger of collapse, and would ultimately receive a combined $139 billion taxpayer bailout.

The donations are possible thanks to a loophole in campaign finance rules that allow corporations, unions and wealthy individuals to give unlimited sums to support the conventions.

It is “absolutely ridiculous” that corporations are able to make such donations, says Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. He calls it “nothing but throwing money at the feet of congressional and White House leaders, presumably with the assumption of getting something in return.”

The two groups were bipartisan in their giving.

AIG gave $750,000 to both the Republican and Democratic host committees. The government would eventually sink $71 billion into the insurance giant. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac gave $250,000 to both committees. Three days after the close of the Republican event, the government took it over along with Fannie Mae. Taxpayers ultimately sank $70 billion into the floundering institution.

In all, $6 million was donated by financial institutions that received bailout money to both party conventions, according to a Center for Public Integrity review of Federal Election Commission filings — $3.4 million to Republicans and $2.6 million to Democrats

"Tiger Blood” is the name of a new ad from a Democratic super PAC, Majority PAC, targeting Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., a reference to the always-entertaining Charlie Sheen’s explanation for his ability to ingest copious amounts of harmful substances without dying.

The ad calls the U.S. Senate candidate “the Charlie Sheen of Florida politics,” accusing him of a having a history of “bar brawls, road rage and resisting arrest.”

Mack, whose real name is Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IV, has said he was “minding his own business” and “sober” when trouble found him, according to a report from the Associated Press. The incidents occurred when the 45-year-old Mack was in his early twenties.

Mack is running against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat. Majority PAC’s mission is to maintain the Democrats’ majority in the Senate.

The ad also attacks Mack’s personal financial history, claiming he has a history of “debts and liens” and has overdrawn his checking account. Both claims are true, according to a February report from The Miami Herald.

“Tiger Blood” also claims that Mack was sued by his yacht club and condo association. Mack was indeed sued by the club, and his Fort Myers-area condo association filed a $2,160 lien against him in 2006, the Herald reported.

The ad is currently only available to Web users who know the link, which Politico published this morning.