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Schaffer ad maker slapped

Watchdog group says law violated

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 10, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Bob Schaffer kept pledge to serve only 3 terms.

Bob Schaffer kept pledge to serve only 3 terms.

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A national group behind a political ad showing schoolchildren repeatedly thanking U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for his commitment to charter schools has run afoul of federal election laws.

U.S. Term Limits, a Virginia- based group, paid for the ad, which includes a written disclaimer: "U.S. Term Limits does not endorse candidates for public office."

But when the ad was posted to YouTube .com, it was labeled "Bob Schaffer for Senate video." That's considered election advocacy, according to a national ethics watchdog group.

Anyone who pays for an ad advocating the election or defeat of a candidate must file a report with the Federal Election Commission within 48 hours after the ad appears. No report was filed.

"We find this embarrassing," Philip Blumel, president of U.S. Term Limits, said Wednesday.

He said the media company that produced the ad was supposed to label it "Thanks, Bob."

Schaffer, a Fort Collins Republican, faces Democrat Mark Udall, of Eldorado Springs, in November.

The term-limits group learned of its ad problem Wednesday after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the FEC.

The D.C.-based group also noted that the ad did not include an audio statement, as required by law, saying who was responsible for its content.

But, as CREW noted in its news release, the complaint is likely to go nowhere. That's because the FEC currently lacks a quorum and no penalties can be assessed until new commissioners are confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Blumel said Term Limits ran the spot as a way to say thanks to Schaffer for keeping his pledge to serve only three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.