Subject: Re: Progressive Media USA Ditches Ad Effort
From: "Anna Burger" <[email-masked]>
To: "Rob McKay" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "John Podesta" <[email-masked]>, "Amy Dacey" <[email-masked]>, "John Stocks" <[email-masked]>, "Frank Smith" <[email-masked]>, "Mary Pat Bonner" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 14:33:13 -0400

Yes

Anna Burger
 202-730-7303

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Rob McKay [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent:	Thursday, May 15, 2008 02:31 PM Eastern Standard Time
To:	Anna Burger
Cc:	John Podesta; Amy Dacey; John Stocks; Frank Smith; Mary Pat Bonner
Subject:	Re: Progressive Media USA Ditches Ad Effort

anna -  is it your sense that the Nat'l Finance Comm will also send a  
specific signal to the donor community?
On May 15, 2008, at 11:26 AM, Anna Burger wrote:

> John, seiu conversations with the campaign confirm that they support  
> our type of effort.  I expect them to make a public statement soon.   
> We should go forward
>
> Anna Burger
>  202-730-7303
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   John Podesta [mailto:[email-masked]]
> Sent:   Thursday, May 15, 2008 02:16 PM Eastern Standard Time
> To:     Amy Dacey; John Stocks; Anna Burger; Robert McKay; Frank  
> Smith; Mary Pat Bonner
> Subject:        Re: Progressive Media USA Ditches Ad Effort
>
> Talked with Tom D. This morning. Asked him to push for a clarification
> on field activity/voter mob activities. Mary Pat, what is your advice
> re 21st? Kill it? Present state plans?
>
>
>
>
> On 5/15/08, Amy Dacey <[email-masked]> wrote:
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Chris Cillizza <[email-masked]>
> > Date: Thu, May 15, 2008 at 10:54 AM
> > Subject: Progressive Media USA Ditches Ad Effort
> > To: Chris Cillizza <[email-masked]>
> >
> >
> >
> > http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/05/democratic_media_group_scales.html
> >
> > Democratic Media Group Ditches Ad Effort
> >
> > Progressive Media USA, the group organized to be the main soft-money
> > advertising vehicle for Democrats in the fall, will dramatically  
> scale back
> > its efforts in deference to the wishes of the party's presumptive  
> nominee.
> >
> > "Progressive Media will not be running an independent ad campaign  
> this
> > year," David Brock, the head of the organization, confirmed in a  
> statement
> > obtained by The Fix this morning.
> >
> > "Progressive Media was established to be an independent on-going  
> progressive
> > issue advocacy organization," Brock added. "We were not  
> established for one
> > issue, one candidate or one election cycle. But donors and  
> potential donors
> > are getting clear signals from the Obama camp through the news  
> media and we
> > recognize that reality."
> >
> > Those familiar with the group's decision cast it as largely the  
> result of
> > the stated desire of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign to not direct  
> funds to
> > outside organizations in hopes of better controlling the  
> Democratic message
> > in the fall. But the group was also struggling to raise the money  
> necessary
> > to be a major force in the presidential race and was riven by  
> internal
> > divisions.
> >
> > During a gathering of Obama's national finance committee earlier  
> this month
> > in Indianapolis, it was made clear to these top donors that they  
> should
> > concentrate on raising money for the candidate and not spend their  
> time
> > funding independent organizations of which Progressive Media USA  
> is one.
> >
> > That warning made Progressive Media USA's already difficult task  
> -- raising
> > tens of millions of dollars in short order from skeptical donors  
> with the
> > unsuccessful soft money efforts of 2004 still on their mind --  
> almost
> > impossible. Without buy-in (literally) from Obama's major donors,  
> it's
> > extremely unlikely deep-pocketed Clinton backers would fund the  
> effort to
> > help elect the Illinois senator on their own.
> >
> > The downscaling of Progressive Media USA is the latest chapter of  
> the
> > group's short but turbulent history. The group, which was  
> initially led by
> > Tom Matzzie, former Washington director for Moveon.org, was  
> originally known
> > as Campaign to Defend America when it was formed in the fall of  
> 2007. The
> > budget for the effort, according to Matzzie, was $100 million.
> >
> > The group struggled to gain traction, however, and in early April  
> liberal
> > media critic David Brock took control of the group -- promising a  
> $40
> > million media onslaught against Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
> >
> > (Those familiar with the group say that Brock and Matzzie were  
> like oil and
> > water stylistically, and their differences made it difficult to  
> put everyone
> > involved with the organization on the same page.)
> >
> > The reformed group drew immediate attention with an ad that  
> painted McCain
> > as a clone of President George W. Bush on the economy. But the  
> extended ad
> > campaign promised by many within Progressive Media USA never  
> materialized --
> > likely due to a lack of available resources.
> >
> > The financial struggles of Progressive Media USA are the rule not  
> the
> > exception in this presidential election. Soft-money groups seemed  
> to have
> > reached their zenith in 2004 when progressive-aligned  
> organizations like
> > America Coming Together and Media Fund as well as conservative- 
> backed groups
> > like Progress for America and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth had an
> > undeniably large influence over the outcome of the election.
> >
> > Four years later, outside groups on both sides of the aisle have  
> experienced
> > all sorts of problems in securing the cash to fund any sort of  
> serious
> > independent effort. That lack of success is particularly true at the
> > presidential level, where Progressive Media USA's collapse comes  
> on the
> > heels of a decision to turn Freedom's Watch from a conservative- 
> aligned
> > presidential vehicle to one that spends its time and money on  
> House races.
> >
> > It's hard to imagine that big-dollar donors won't seek to exert  
> their
> > influence in some substantial way in the run-up to the 2008  
> election. But so
> > far the vehicles that have tried to do just that have run out of  
> gas after
> > traveling just a few miles.
> >
> > Chris Cillizza
> > "The Fix"
> > The Washington Post
> > [email-masked]
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Amy K. Dacey
> > Executive Director
> > Fund for America
> > 202-730-7727
> >
>
> --
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