NASHUA – Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Wednesday that independent groups financing mail and ads on his behalf, known as Section 527 committees, should be outlawed and will be if he’s elected in 2008.
“I think the 527s should be outlawed, and what we ultimately need to do is not just stop the 527, but have public financing of all campaigns,” Edwards told reporters after going door-to-door with Nashua supporters Bill Barry and Helen Honorow.
“It’s a centerpiece of my campaign to get this money out of politics.”
On Friday, Democratic rival Barack Obama chastised Edwards because a former top campaign aide, Nick Boldick, is a paid adviser to the Alliance for a Better America, a 527 affiliated with the SEIU union that’s now bankrolling $1.3 million in TV and radio ads endorsing Edwards in Iowa.
“The fact is that this is somebody who worked for John Edwards for who knows how many years,” Obama said.
“He’s a good friend and colleague of Edwards who’s now running a 527 that’s running ads on behalf of John Edwards. You’re telling me that he has no influence on him; that’s just not true.”
The Telegraph reported last Tuesday on its “NH Prime Cuts” blog that the Alliance paid for a statewide mailing to Democratic and independent households in New Hampshire.
Edwards campaign spokeswoman Kate Beddingfield said the candidate and campaign has had no contact with Boldick or anyone associated with the 527s.
“He’s done everything he could do under the law,” Beddingfield said. “It would be illegal for him to have contact with Nick or anyone else.”
A San Francisco-based 527, Vote Hope, formed last spring to promote Obama.
Obama criticized the group in August and urged they simply support his campaign. Records to date show the group has spent about $40,000, none of it on paid advertising or mailings.
Both Obama and Edwards have made their refusal to accept donations from Washington lobbyists a major theme.
Several media outlets reported over the weekend that when Edwards ran for president in 2004, Jonathan Prince, a senior adviser, left the campaign shortly before the Iowa vote to start a 527 that paid for mailings to caucus voters.
Prince is currently deputy campaign manager for Edwards.
Edwards is accepting federal matching money and can spend no more than $59 million to win the nomination.
