Secretly-Funded Attack Groups Have Spent More Than $30 Million On Ads Against Sherrod; More Money Than Any Senate Candidate In Country Has Faced
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Sen. John McCain, whose landmark campaign finance legislation was gutted by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United vs. FEC ruling – allowing secretly-funded third party groups to spend unlimited amounts on ads, without disclosing their donors – campaigned with special-interest darling Josh Mandel, yesterday.
When asked by the Toledo Blade to comment on the court’s ruling, and the torrential downpour of outside money keeping candidates like Josh Mandel competitive in races like Ohio’s, here’s what McCain had to say:
“I think it’s been a disaster. There is money coming in from places we never knew where it came from. And I guarantee you there will be scandals … and corruption, and then there will be reform.”
Secretly-funded special interest groups run by Karl Rove, the billionaire Koch brothers and other anonymous donors have spent more than $30 million on ads against Sherrod, on Josh Mandel’s behalf. No senate candidate in the country has faced a larger barrage of third-party money.
“There’s a reason that secretly-funded third-party groups have poured more than $30 million into Ohio airing false, negative ads against Sen. Brown in an effort to send Josh Mandel to Washington – it’s because they’re looking for a rubber stamp in Washington and they’ve found their man in Josh Mandel,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Andrew Zucker. “Mandel surrogates like Sen. John McCain are right – reform is desperately needed in order to prevent scandals and corruption through the same broken political rules that have kept Mandel competitive despite his opposition to the auto rescue, opposition to Sherrod’s bipartisan jobs bill that would punish China for cheating trade laws and the reality that he can’t be trusted to fight for Ohio jobs.”