Conservative Group Sells Endorsement To The Highest Bidder

Now this is true free market capitalism if I’ve ever seen it.

From Politico:

The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a $2 million check in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.

In return for the $2 million, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)”

The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx that was provided to POLITICO.

No pretense. No confusion. Just cash on the barrel head please.

Frankly, while part of me is disgusted, there’s another part of me that grudgingly respects the bluntness of this. “Yes, just like everybody else, we can be bought and here’s the price.” Because let’s face it, politicians and interest groups do this in every single election, it’s just usually not this transparent.

Here’s what the money would have bought FedEx…

• Acquiring data of known conservatives in the targeted states (to be determined by FedEx), matching that data to an email database and then incorporating those email addresses with the current ACU e-mail database to create one targeted database of all potential activists.
• Sending a piece of targeted direct mail to these potential activists to ensure that they are well educated prior to their contact with their senators.
• E-mailing the identified voter activists, in 5 rounds, in order to educate them on the issue(s) and to urge them to call their senators based on key dates. The ACU would include the phone number of their personal Senators directly in the correspondence.
• Conducting targeted phone call campaign that will contact each voter activist to urge them to make a personal call to their Senators. Each state would have a specialized message just for that state.
• Encouraging activists who live within 30 miles of a senator’s District Office to consider making a personal visit to register their concerns at the office. ACU has proven that we can turn out well-informed, quality voters who present a good image to represent our concerns.
• As the vote for the legislation nears, distributing ACTION ALERT emails, and after the vote has taken place, distributing MegaVote e-mails to ACU’s members letting them know how their senators vote.

Now remember, the American Conservatives Union has been around since 1964 and if you go to their website, Conservative.org, you’ll find a picture of Eric Cantor on the front. So these definitely aren’t some fly-by-nighters. And if an organization as old and connected as this can sell their endorsement so openly, well, one has to wonder what other groups are asking for their support.

Here’s the question: How much would you ask for your endorsement?

(Photo: EWM)