A defamation lawsuit filed against Representative Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) by a litigious old boyfriend (served up the week of the endorsing convention but so not intended to damage her political career) and an assault on a frail Franson supporter by a local Republican supporting challenger Sue Nelson aren't the only hijinks in the West Central Minnesota conservative contest.
Now there's an endorsement mailing on Nelson's behalf by Americans for Marriage and Life, urging delegates to select Nelson at Saturday's endorsing convention (image right).
Mary Franson first tweeted that the group was formed last week, along with a copy of the mailing, but then deleted the tweet and retweeted the image (locked account), asking if the organization were registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board.
Not that Bluestem Prairie can find. Nor can we find the committee registered with the Federal Election Commission. Nor is the group registered with the Minnesota Attorney General's Charity division.
However, Twin Cities radio preacher Gary Borgendale did register the organization as a "527" committee with the Internal Revenue Service in 2008. The 8871 form is viewable here via the IRS's database.
The purpose of the organization is to:
Promote federal, state and local candidates that share the view that marriage is between one man and one woman and promote candiates that are pro life
No other documentation is on file with the IRS, and Campaign Money lists $0 contributions and $0 spending by the committee since its creation in 2008.
According to Open Secrets:
527 Group — A tax-exempt group organized under section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code to raise money for political activities including voter mobilization efforts, issue advocacy and the like. Currently, the FEC only requires a 527 group to file regular disclosure reports if it is a political party or political action committee (PAC) that engages in either activities expressly advocating the election or defeat of a federal candidate, or in electioneering communications. Otherwise, it must file either with the government of the state in which it is located or the Internal Revenue Service. Many 527s run by special interest groups raise unlimited "soft money," which they use for voter mobilization and certain types of issue advocacy, but not for efforts that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a federal candidate or amount to electioneering communications.
Since the stated propose of AML is to "promote federal, state and local candidates," we're surprised that there isn't more paperwork anywhere.
Bluestem has called the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to see if the mailing falls within the boundaries set by Minnesota campaign and election law.
UPDATE: Gary Goldsmith returned our call. In a nutshell, it's unlikely that Americans for Marriage and Life's mailing in the House 8B endorsement race has tripped any of the spending thresholds for registering with Minnesota's campaign finance board, although once those spending thresholds are reached, the group must register because it promotes candidates. Were the mailing coordinated with the Nelson campaign, the threshold is fairly low, but copying and mailing the letter isn't likely to reach the threshold.
Goldsmith thought that the mailing might be in technical violation because there's no disclaimer indentifying the mailing as an independent expenditure (if the mailing is indeed independent). If the Nelson campaign shared the delegate mailing list with AML, the exchange counts as an in-kind contribution.
However, Goldsmith suggested that given the likely small expense of the mailing and subsequent lack of requirement for registration and disclosure, that the possible technical violation created by the lack of a disclaimer on the letter would pose constitutional questions related to free speech given if the board pursued an investigation. Dinging a group on a technicality whose activities have yet to require disclosure would be a heavy-handed response.
However, if the group gets involved in endorsing other candidates this year, and spend more than the legal thresholds, it would have to register and file reports, and the cost of this and all activity wouldbe disclosed. [end update]
We're also curious how the organization obtained the mailing addresses for delegates to this weekend's endorsing convention. Is it a common practice of Republican BPOUs to share this information with 527s? Or did the committee obtain the list from a candidate? Is this an example of coordination?
The Manhattan Declaration
The mailer endorses Nelson because of her signature on the Manhattan Declaration, a project Chuck Colson and other conservative Christians established in 2009. Right Wing Watch writes in The Right's New Manhattan Project:
It seems that Chuck Colson has gathered together a group of right-wing activists and clergy for something called the "Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience" in order to create a unified front in fighting the culture war:
The manifesto, to be released on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, is an effort to rejuvenate the political alliance of conservative Catholics and evangelicals that dominated the religious debate during the administration of President George W. Bush. The signers include nine Roman Catholic archbishops and the primate of the Orthodox Church in America.
They want to signal to the Obama administration and to Congress that they are still a formidable force that will not compromise on abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. They hope to influence current debates over health care reform, the same-sex marriage bill in Washington, D.C., and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
They say they also want to speak to younger Christians who have become engaged in issues like climate change and global poverty, and who are more accepting of homosexuality than their elders. They say they want to remind them that abortion, homosexuality and religious freedom are still paramount issues.
For some reason, the headline of the New York Times article is "Christian Leaders Unite on Political Issues" instead of "Right Wing Activists Unite On Political Issues" . . .
Read the declaration here, and a long list of Right Wing Watch articles about the Manhattan Declaration here.
In light of Franson's perjorative remarks about "fascism" during the Safe Schools bill debate before the Easter-Passover recess, it's ironic to read at Right Wing Watch in Can The Religious Right Please Stop With The Nazi Comparisons?:
Ever since the Religious Right drafted and released The Manhattan Declaration in 2009, the authors and supporters of the document has made no bones about the fact that they believe themselves to be courageous heroes in the mold of those who resisted the Nazis in Germany.
And just in case the analogy had not yet been made crystal clear, co-author Timothy George has an essay in the Spring edition of Beeson magazine [PDF] in which he explicitly links the Manhattan Declaration to the Barmen Declaration, the 1934 statement by the Confessing Church standing in opposition to the Nazi take over of the German church.
George admits that "the plight of the church in North America today, serious as it is, is not analogous to the repression Jews, Christians and many others experienced in Hitler’s Germany," but then proceeds to explain how the Manhattan Declaration and the Barmen Declaration are two sides of the same coin . . .
Read the rest at RWW.
Given that Nelson is down with this bunch, we tried to wonder what Nelson's speech on the floor might have been like if Franson has been judged insufficiently hating on the cute boys and found ourselves unable to wrap our heads around that possibility.
Perhaps as disturbing: so far, Franson and Nelson are the only two candidates to put their candidacies forward. Is there no DFLer who will think of the children?
Photo: the image of the letter that Franson tweeted.
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The Nelson bunch are pressing hard to eliminate any opposition to her getting the endorsement. Republican activists who have not come out in support of Princess Susie are under attack from Susie's attack dogs with false accusations and nasty rumors. The man who was attacked at the meeting is under siege for not slinking away and shutting up. Nelson is being tagged the Harold Stassen of Ottertail because Franson is the third or fourth incumbent she has tried to push out of office. Susie also brags that she got a newspaper editor fired for writing a critical bit a few years ago. I am republican but won't get anywhere near the toxic waste dump that Susie and her gang of holier than thou character assassains have created. Susie aims to sweep the field clear of anyone who wont kiss her behind.
Posted by: Roger | Apr 25, 2014 at 12:11 PM