Attack-Ad Spending Floods Pro-Choice Candidates

By Sharon Johnson

WeNews senior correspondent

Friday, October 29, 2010

Pro-choice Sen. Boxer's re-election campaign in California has been hit by $4 million in attack ads in the past two months, making her race appear one of the most affected by the Supreme Court's January decision to lift campaign financing restrictions.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (WOMENSENEWS)--The Supreme Court's January decision on campaign financing has helped make this the most expensive midterm election in history, with $3 billion spent, according to the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks election spending.

Since corporations, unions and individuals now enjoy a First Amendment right to anonymous and unlimited campaign financing, it's hard to know who's spending what money on which races.

But the nail-biting race in California between Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is trying to defend her seat against Republican challenger Carly Fiorina, the billionaire anti-choice former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is attracting some of the biggest money.

From Sept. 1 through Oct. 10, business groups and conservative organizations spent more than $4 million on round-the-clock TV ads and mailings attacking Boxer's support on everything from the federal stimulus program to environmental restrictions on oil companies.

Outside groups have spent about $121,000 helping Boxer attack her opponents, according to The Associated Press.

During the entire campaign, The Washington Post estimates that the Chamber of Commerce has spent $4,639,118 on TV ads attacking Boxer's economic policies. It spent $1,361,648 during the crucial week of Oct. 17 through 24, a time when undecided voters traditionally pay close attention to campaigns in the home stretch.

Groups on both sides of the abortion issue cannot match the breath and depth of the Chamber of Commerce's sophisticated campaign to reach the 17 million registered voters in California, so they have used their resources to make abortion a "wedge" issue. This strategy could prove decisive, if the outcome rests on the turnout of a few thousand voters who might otherwise stay home.

Pro-Choice Groups Fight Back

The California affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of reproductive services in the U.S., have spent $209,992 and NARAL Pro-Choice America, which lobbies Congress on choice, has spent $53,916 to support Boxer with mailings that emphasize the critical role she has played in sponsoring pro-choice legislation, The Washington Post has reported.

The anti-Boxer one-month spending surge represents more than a third of all the money--nearly $11 million--that the team of presidential candidate George W. Bush spent on the entire state in 2000.

An Oct. 22 Rasmussen Poll of voters who said they are likely to vote found Boxer leading 48 percent to Fiorina's 46 percent. Three percent said they preferred other candidates; 3 percent were undecided.

Emily's List, a fundraising organization that boosts candidates who support abortion rights, took an unusual approach in supporting Boxer. The group aired a TV commercial Oct. 18 accusing Fiorina of laying off tens of thousands of employees and shipping jobs overseas as CEO of Hewlett-Packard.

The deluge of fiscally conservative messages is part of a concerted effort by Republican groups to win the votes of men in districts of fiscally liberal Democrats such as Boxer, many of whom are strong pro-choice advocates.

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