December 26, 2007

Club for Growth Donor Linked to Romney

The Club for Growth began to attack Mike Huckabee long before he became a top-tier candidate. From the beginning concerns have been raised that they might have an anti-Huckabee agenda.

Now, FOX News reports today that the Club for Growth has received significant donations from a dedicated Romney supporter and an Arkansan who has been a longtime Huckabee critic. This information seriously calls into question whether the Club for Growth can claim to be unbiased in their analysis of all the Republican candidates:

A conservative anti-tax group Wednesday expanded its ad campaign against Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, helped by a major GOP donor who bankrolled ads that questioned Democrat John Kerry's war record during the 2004 campaign.

The Club for Growth is spending $175,000 to continue running ads in Iowa that highlight tax increases adopted in Arkansas when Huckabee was governor. During the past three weeks, the group has spent $550,000 to criticize Huckabee's economic policies.

According to Federal Election Commission records, ClubForGrowth.net received $200,000 this month from Bob Perry, a Houston homebuilder who in 2004 pumped nearly $4.5 million into the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth to pay for unsubstantiated ads that questioned Kerry's Vietnam service.

Perry contributed $2,300, the maximum allowed, to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who is Huckabee's top rival in Iowa. Romney has been running his own ads against Huckabee, criticizing his record on immigration and taxes.

Perry has donated to the Club for Growth in the past, including $150,000 during the 2006 election cycle, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Another major donor is Jackson T. "Steve" Stephens Jr., a Little Rock, Ark., businessman and member of the Club for Growth's board of directors. Stephens is a longtime critic of Huckabee who once considered running against him for governor. He has donated $200,000 to the group, including $100,000 this month.

1 comment:

ruffedge said...

The "Club for Growth" would seem to wield powers and influence similar to that of the so called "Illuminati". I'm convinced that the CfG has influenced such conservative pundits as Coulter, Hannity, Limbaugh and Malkin just to name a few. It's good to know that they are available to the highest bidder.