Watchdog Groups Call on Ohio Senate Candidate Rob Portman to Reject Support From Karl Rove and American Crossroads

News provided by

www.AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org

Sep 27, 2010, 08:00 ET

Ohioans Do Not Want Karl Rove's Dirty Politics Or Dirty Money

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A coalition of watchdog organizations called AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org, today released a new ad calling on Ohio U.S. Senate Candidate Rob Portman to reject the support of Karl Rove and his group, American Crossroads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FCt23wKqmA Portman is closely tied to Rove, and the Portman campaign has been accused in a formal complaint with illegal coordination with a political campaign for ads created by American Crossroads.

AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org is calling on Portman to publicly reject Rove's dirty money and dirty tricks. The text of the ad is below.

"American Crossroads is the brainchild of Karl Rove, one of the country's most reviled political operatives for his 40-year history of electoral dirty tricks, including conspiring with Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell in 2004 to manipulate the Bush presidential election, and figuring in the death of Bush election IT expert Michael Connell. Shannon Connell called her brother's mysterious death "a really nice Christmas present for Rove."

Now, American Crossroads and the US Chamber of Commerce --groups secretly funded by a cabal of corporate barons opposed to any common sense regulation, health care reform, environmental protection, or financial accountability -- have pumped millions of dollars into ads supporting Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, without any disclosure of who has paid for those ads.

These groups plan to each spend at least $50 million this year to manipulate elections and buy politicians in a dozen states. Such massive amounts are made possible by Citizens United, a 2010 Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate funding of elections. Steven Law, Chief Counsel of the US Chamber of Commerce and CEO of American Crossroads, is promising donors that he will not disclose their names or how their money is spent.

But 87% of Americans across the political spectrum do not want corporations buying their elected officials.

Rob Portman, you have campaigned on independence and transparency yet you are being supported by American Crossroads and the Chamber, which are hiding their financial activities behind a wall of lawyers and secrecy. You have campaigned on accountability yet you are embracing Karl Rove who tarnished the good reputation of Ohio elections and refused to answer questions about his possible involvement in Mike Connell's death.

Do the right thing Rob. Tell Karl Rove to keep his dirty politics and dirty money out of Ohio elections."

SOURCE www.AmericanCrossroadsWatch.org