Freedom's Watch makes its move
By Steve Benen Tuesday Mar 25, 2008 5:50pmWhen Freedom’s Watch burst upon the political scene in August 2007, it was part of a coordinated effort to rally support for staying the course in Iraq. The group unveiled four slick TV ads, including one featuring a veteran who lost a leg in Iraq who argued that we have to stay in Iraq because “they attacked us.” It was part of a $15 million dishonest blitz, asking Americans not to believe their lying eyes.
Of course, the right-wing group, which aims to be a political powerhouse, has always had far loftier goals. There was some talk of Freedom’s Watch spending big bucks in the 2008 campaign cycle, though a recent staff shake-up raised questions about the limits of the group’s impact.
It now looks as though any hopes that these unhinged conservative hatchetmen would be weakened this year were wishful thinking.
The conservative group, Freedom’s Watch, which has endured some prominent staff departures in recent months, announced today the hiring of Carl Forti, who was most recently political director for Mitt Romney’s presidential bid, to run the group’s issue advocacy campaign in the fall.
Prior to the Romney campaign, Mr. Forti was communications director at the National Republican Congressional Committee, where he oversaw the committee’s independent expenditures in 2004 and 2006.
Chris Cillizza added, “Forti called the position ‘an important job in an important cycle.’ Asked about the goals for the organization, Forti said only his aim was ‘to educate people about issues important to them and their neighbors.’”
Yes, “educate.” Carl Forti is all about the educating.
Let’s take a look at the “educational” efforts Forti led in the 2006 election cycle.
One advertisement accused the rival candidate of billing taxpayers for a call to a phone-sex line. One alleged that a candidate “fixed” his daughter’s speeding tickets. Still others stated that a candidate endorsed a “coffee talk with the Taliban,” and that another was supported by the Communist Party.
Each charge was misleading at best, demonstrably false at worst. Yet the National Republican Congressional Committee paid for each of those ads last year, and its leaders said they could do nothing to pull them, even after some of the Republicans whom the ads were designed to help demanded that they come down.
Now, four months after Republicans lost control of Congress, many of their former candidates are calling for major changes at the NRCC. They depict the committee as a rogue attack-ad shop that shielded party leaders from having to account for the claims in their ads — encouraging over-the-top accusations that often hurt GOP candidates.
“They weren’t just attacking my opponent — they were, bit by bit, destroying a reputation that I had spent years and years building,” said Ray Meier, a Republican candidate in upstate New York whose Democratic opponent was wrongly accused of making adult fantasy calls.
Annenberg Political Fact Check, which is nonpartisan and scrutinizes campaign ads, called the NRCC ads that Forti oversaw “the very definition of political mudslinging.” Annenberg added that Forti’s NRCC work “stood out” for “the sheer volume of assaults on the personal character of Democratic House challengers.”
And now Forti is going to lead a massive right-wing operation that intends to spend a quarter of a billion dollars. (To put that in context, there’s simply no precedent for an independent political operation to have that kind of money. In 2004, MoveOn.org, which was extremely active, spent $21 million. The Swift Boat liars spent $22 million. Harold Ickes’ Media Fund spent in upwards of $100 million. Freedom’s Watch aims to spend more than all of them put together, and then some.)
If the past is any indication, Freedom’s Watch’s ads are going to be pretty vile; American politics at its worst and most destructive. But I’d just add one encouraging caveat — Forti went as ugly as he possibly could in 2006, and Democrats crushed Republicans nationwide anyway, winning back majorities in both the House and Senate.
These efforts, in other words, may be caustic and injurious to our public discourse, but sometimes they lose.
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According to the Repug-nutz my eyes lie to me so much I should just gouge them out with a fork!
Except with the price of gas I cannot afford a fork...what to do...what to do?
After Forti's smashing success with Darth Romney, I would expect him to do just as well with FW.
This struck my funny bone quite hard. It's been awhile since this type of humor surfaced on C&L. Nice. Thanks, Steve Benen.
The more these crackpots talk about staying the course, there are blaring contradictions that pop up every time:
1. You never once hear anything about any of these jokers buying tickets for Americans to go over to Iraq and fight the war on their own. I mean, there is no wall around the US. Why not just travel to Iraq on your own dime and die for your own cause if you think its so damn important?
2. These same wackjobs will whine about the welfare state going on inside the US, but think nothing of Bush spending another trillion dollars so the Sunnis and Shiites can attack each other in their own government.
I'm not real sure hiring the communications director of a failed repub presidential candidate is anything to crow about.. On the other hand, looking for the silver lining.. and given what this 'organization' (read political tool) is all about.. I certainly hope Mr. Forti does for this outfit, what he did for the old Mitt-sters presidential aspirations......JD
He misspoke. He meant to say "re-educate", as in he plans to send anyone to the left of William Kristol off to re-education camps, sorta like what Mao Tse Tung and Pol Pot did.
Well according to Bushie himself, by his own definition, there's no winning in Iraq. In 2005, Bush's definition of victory was:
Bush downscaled this a bit from "igniting the flames of freedom across the Middle East" in 2003. But still, using Bush's more current definition, how can we ever achieve "victory"?
I hope the Democratic hopefuls won't have too much trouble pointing this out?
If professional liar Ari Fleischer is still involved, it's an even more dangerous organization.
"They attacked us"?
Surely you mean Saudi Arabia, right?
You couldn't possibly mean Iraq, right?
Oh, wait, you ARE right. As in right-wing. As in patently, undeniably, indisputably wrong.
Walter Lippmann (1899-1974) couldn't have said better:
Want proof?
Repukes might not be good at anything, but they sure is good at coming up with great catch phrases
War On Terror
Freedom Watch
Patriot Act
No Child Left Behind
The list is endless.......wrap 'er in a flag!!
ConcernedCanuck @ 11:
And their catch phrases always mean the opposite of what's said.
This is the 2008 "swiftboat" committee and IT WILL WORK. Will the Democrats again be unprepared for incorrect, unfair and inaccrurate attacks? Probably. Worse, they are not prepared with their own organization(s) to level challenges to McCain - and there is a TON to level at him and it's not even lies! It will get blogged about to no end, but that's preaching to the choir. The 11 o'clock "news" and Letterman need to talk about it.
Funny how those in the horseshit GOP view/claim that lying outright constitutes "educating" others...........
At least Forti got in some invaluable experience in supporting a losing cause in Romney , 1st ; he's gonna' need to fall back on that with this equally ludicrous pursuit.
Freedom's Watch is going to be quite busy this year, unfortunately for them, however, it's going to spend some of its time fending off a lawsuit from Larry Klayman, infamous for founding Judicial Watch. Turns out he's claiming he actually held the rights to that name since 2004, and he's ratcheting up the rhetoric against the group.
For a more thorough look at FW itself, This Article from Mother Jones does a good job of explaining just why this group needs to be countered, and as harshly as possible.
can you spell P-r-o-p-a-g-a-n-d-a ?
they must be so proud......Romney's architect...an Ari Flesher ?
I would like to remind Forti and Freedom's Watch -
You can't polish a turd.
So uh, yeah. Good luck on that new position. *lol*
and the US goverment "wonders" why people in the rest of the world don't want to participate in the supposed war on terror.
It ain't a lie if you tell it enough...no WMD's, well you know that's just TOUGH!
-Wackiavelli
I saw a few of these ads about why we should stay the course and I can see their point in so much as they need a reason to have what happened to them make some kind of sense after all wouldn't you feel like a fool if you knew you were just a tool in a group's advancement of forever war, oil and robbing the treasury for their own pocket- it sounds so much better that you gave up so much for truth justice and the american way?
KingCranky @ 15:
The big money in FW comes from a clown named Sheldon Adelson, owner of The Venetian and the Palazzo in Las Vegas, as well as properties in Macao.
Has his nose up Shrubbie's ass a lot.
Owns a dipshit/moron of a batshit nutjob Governor of Nevada named Gibbons.
Remember that when making your reservations for a stay here in Fun City.
Educating...? Now that is a laugh!
So the FEC has been neutered and corrupt Republican propaganda machines like Freedom Watch can run hog-wild, with some culture of corruption Republicans putting up a quarter of a billion in smear money.
A whole lot of unfortunate U.S. citizens are going to be subjected to Faux News on illegal steroids once Forti starts swift-boating Democrats later this year...and he'll be able to get away with vicious, untruthful ads because the FEC won't be around to rein in his lies.
On a positive note, Forti, as well as all the Republicans responsible, will all end up in HELL.
the groundwork for the swiftboating of obama, as it was for Kerry, will be done with the uncontested repetition of the talk radio monopoly and these pantloads will do most of their work out of limbaugh and hannity and company's asses.... if obama supporters really want to defend their candidates they may want to exercise their free speech rights by waving signs and boycotting relative to the local center of GOP power- the local right wing talk radio station.
doing so will help progressives recognize where the invisible body blows are coming from and may get the media attention needed to correct the inevitable distortions and lies.
if, as usual, progressives ignore the talk radio factor it will again count for many millions of votes around the country being cast in ignorance. one local loudmouth reading GOP and chamber of commerce talking points can undo the work of thousands of volunteer citizens working for causes and candidates.
the talk radio disparity, enabled by reagan killing the Fairness Doctrine, may be the single most imortant factor why we are in this bush disaster now.
MCMetal @ 14:
Well, they are after all in the reality-creating business...
J.
I didn't think the RNCC had $250 million, what with balky donors and in-house thievery.
Good God, this country is in shambles. The wolves are rabid and the sheep are being mutilated by the day.
from the nrcc? watch your wallets, fellas!
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