Secret donors funding more ads in election

More than a third of the advertising tied to the presidential race has been funded by nonprofit groups that will never have to reveal their donors, suggesting that a significant portion of the 2012 elections will be wrapped in a vast cloak of secrecy.

The bulk of the secret money spent so far has come from conservative groups seeking to propel a Republican into the White House, advertising data shows. Millions of dollars in additional spending from both sides has poured into legislative races, such as the Senate contest in Massachusetts, that could help determine which party controls Congress in 2013.

The flow of funds is part of a wave of spending by outside groups that has quickly come to dominate the 2012 presidential contest, particularly by so-called "super PACs" that have few limits on their activities.

But unlike super PACs, politically minded nonprofit groups are under no obligation to disclose the corporations, unions or wealthy tycoons bankrolling their advertising, much of which is almost indistinguishable from regular political ads run by campaigns.

The end result is a presidential race heavily influenced by organizations and their funders who will remain largely in the shadows.

"I don't think we've seen these kind of groups acting so aggressively in election-related activity as we see now," said Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California in Irvine. "This is pure secret money. . . . The goal is to avoid disclosure."

Nonprofit "social welfare" organizations and other tax-exempt groups with confidential donors have spent more than $24 million in the 2012 cycle on political ads naming President Obama or, less frequently, his Republican rivals, according to a Washington Post analysis of data supplied by Kantar Media/CMAG, which tracks ad spending. That accounts for about 40 percent of the money estimated to have been spent so far on advertising related to the presidential candidates.

Crossroads GPS, a nonprofit group backed by GOP political guru Karl Rove, has spent more than $10 million on ads targeting Obama over the federal deficit, energy policies and other issues in the 2012 cycle. American Crossroads, a sister group registered as a super PAC, has spent just $133,000 on such ads, the data show.

The disparity means that nearly all of the broadcast messages that voters have encountered from the Crossroads groups were paid for by persons unknown. The super PAC side of the operation reported taking in $18.2 million in 2011, including $7 million from Texas billionaire Harold Simmons and his company; the nonprofit side raised almost twice as much from unidentified donors.

Spokesman Jonathan Collegio said Crossroads GPS is no different than tens of thousands of other nonprofits, from ideological groups to charities, that are entitled to keep their contributors confidential.

"Private organizations don't have to disclose their donor lists to the government at their beck and call," Collegio said. "Those who want to support the Crossroads groups have a choice of whether they want to give to a more political- or issue-oriented effort, and they make their decisions according to their tastes and preferences."

Another top spender so far is Americans for Prosperity, a Washington-based group that has ties to two conservative brothers who run the Koch Industries oil-and-gas conglomerate; David Koch is chairman of the group's foundation.

Americans for Prosperity has spent nearly $7 million on ads targeting Obama, including a spot criticizing his administration's handling of the Solyndra government loan guarantee that prompted a response ad from the Obama campaign. Tim Phillips, Americans for Prosperity's president, defended the ability to keep donors under wraps, saying the group "works in the public policy arena more than the political arena." He also cited concerns that donors could be targeted for harassment by the Obama administration and liberal groups. (next page »)