As you know, the Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren campaigns have agreed to the People’s Pledge, according to which they have to donate 50% of the cost of any third-party advertising buy supporting them, or against the other side. This has resulted in our airwaves being blissfully free of ads by Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, and for that matter Planned Parenthood and the League of Conservation Voters. The only ads we’ve seen are from the candidates themselves. Which is a good thing.
But what should I have found on my front doorstep today but this door-hanger proclaiming that “Republican Scott Brown” is “selling us out to big oil.” (Click for a larger version.) The fine print at the bottom: “Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters.”
This is not a Pledge violation, because the Pledge does not extend to door-to-door solicitation or direct mail. And it’s all good. Groups like LCV and others are perfectly entitled to have their voices heard in this campaign. They’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way: by talking to voters one at a time.