‘Secret’ GOP Group Opening Attack on Party Switcher

One of the most feared of a newly popular breed of secret political groups is launching its first public attack, going after a member of Congress from New York who switched parties last year and now is a Democrat.

Beginning today, an unusual campaign funded by unknown sources will tell voters that they should vote against Michael P. Forbes because, in essence, he once was such a good Republican.

The group behind the anti-Forbes ads, the Republican Majority Issues Committee, refused to reveal its donors or how much it is spending on the campaign but stressed that it is only the first of many such efforts.

The campaign is an early salvo from the rapidly growing class of tax-exempt “527” political groups, named for a section of the federal tax code. The groups are expected to spend as much as hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the November elections. Unlike political parties, candidates and political action committees, these groups are not required by law to disclose their donors or expenditures publicly.

The rampant proliferation of such groups jolted Congress into unexpected action last week. The Senate, in its first affirmative vote on campaign finance reform in seven years, passed a measure to require those groups to disclose their contributors and spending. The Senate action, spearheaded by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), forced the House GOP leadership to agree to allow a vote later this month on the substance of the issue.

Meanwhile, however, as the anti-Forbes campaign illustrates, the groups are beginning to spend some of the money they have raised from secret donors.

Forbes charged Tuesday that the group attacking him is the worst of a bad breed because it is doing the bidding of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas). DeLay, who has raised money for the group, is leading the effort to defeat the reform measure.

The Republican Majority Issues Committee also stands out among the crowd because backers believe and opponents fear that it has the power and breadth to influence enough individual contests to determine control of the next Congress.

In Forbes’ Long Island district, the ads shown on electronic billboards at convenience stores and similar locations will remind shoppers that Forbes was once a Newt Gingrich loyalist. And letters sent to Democratic primary voters will point out that Forbes endorsed 15 elements of the GOP’s 1996 campaign manifesto, the “contract with America,” won a 100% rating by the conservative Christian Coalition during his first term in Congress and voted to impeach President Clinton and repeal a ban on assault weapons.

“This is a very blatant example of the arrogance and insensitivity of this mean-spirited Republican majority that is trying to circumvent the law and allow polluters and money-changers and influence-peddlers a seat at the table,” Forbes fumed after learning about the ads.

“This is not funny stuff,” he said. “I want to know what companies are buying influence with Tom DeLay.”

Operatives and lawyers working to help Democrats regain control of the House are so frightened by the stealth groups that they filed a lawsuit recently accusing DeLay and the Republican Majority Issues Committee of extortion and money laundering.

So far, however, the group’s founder and chairman, Karl Gallant, is delighting in the challenge because it has heightened the group’s profile and attracted more donors.

The group’s attack on Forbes represents the kind of targeted effort that Gallant envisions launching in each of a couple of dozen congressional races. He said that he plans to spend about $1 million on each race and he does not dispute reported accounts that he intends to spend $25 million.

Instead of merely pouring the money into generic nationwide television ads in critical districts, Gallant is sending experienced political operatives into each of the congressional districts. They identify the issues most important to local voters and devise strategies to influence the way people vote.

In the case of Forbes, Gallant believes that the candidate’s main weakness is that he has behaved like a chameleon.

“This seemed like a provocative, unique way to get some kind of discussion where Mr. Forbes stands on issues,” said Gallant, who until recently ran DeLay’s political action committee. “RMIC’s core mission is to spur a public debate that will get the candidates to spell out how conservative or liberal they are.”

The Republican Party is strongly backing Forbes’ GOP opponent, Felix J. Grucci, owner of a fireworks company and a Long Island town supervisor. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful.