Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead on Friday said an Arkansas-based liberal political committee – Southern Progress Action Fund – is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to air dishonest negative ads against Republican legislative candidates in Alabama, but refuses to publicly reveal its funding sources.
“It is clear, however, who is behind the scenes in this effort: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. As reported by national news media, former Hillary Clinton political associates Kiki McLean, Harold Ickes and Minyon Moore are all involved with Southern Progress, as is Julianna Smoot, who is a fundraiser for Barack Obama,” Armistead stated. “In addition, the group’s website lists ultra-liberals like Howard Dean, a former chairman of the National Democrat Party, and former California Gov. Gray Davis among its founders and leaders. This is all the evidence you need to know that Southern Progress Action Fund opposes the conservative beliefs and values that most Alabamians hold.”
The ads began airing in the Montgomery and Huntsville media markets on Tuesday. “The Southern Progress Action Fund is a cloak-and-dagger group that is purposely hiding its contributors from the media and voters in Alabama,” Armistead said. “Much of the content of the ads is outrageous, offensive, and untrue and attacks our conservative Republican legislative candidates with no accountability in return for those funding them. Conservative Republican legislators in the Montgomery media market who are being targeted by the liberal Southern Progress Action Fund’s outrageous attacks include Republican state representatives Alan Boothe, Mike Hubbard and Mark Tuggle.
“These eleventh hour dishonest tactics may work elsewhere, but I believe the people of Alabama will recognize the Southern Progress Action Fund as a group of liberals being funded by liberals to elect liberals. This out-of-state group is flagrantly avoiding Alabama’s campaign finance laws and trying to mislead Alabama voters by hiding its donors with sleight-of-hand tactics.
According to a story that ran in Bloomberg news, the Southern Progress Action Fund was purposely created in a manner that does not require it to publicly report its contributors. A related fund, the Southern Progress Fund, does report its contributions to the Internal Revenue Service.
Courtesy of the Alabama Republican Party
