Democratic groups boost election spending

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Democratic interest groups are narrowing the spending gap with their conservative counterparts in the U.S. midterm elections, records indicate.

Even as Democrats from President Barack Obama on down railed against spending by outside conservative groups, independent groups that support Democrats are using money from non-profit groups that can shield their donors from scrutiny, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

A Post analysis of campaign finance disclosure filings indicates nearly $4 of every $10 spent by independent groups last week were meant to help Democratic candidates. Just a few weeks earlier, Democratic-leaning organizations were being outspent by 7 to 1, the data indicates.

"The outrage over spending by GOP-leaning outside groups is a political ploy, selective in its focus and hypocritical in its messaging," said Jonathan Collegio, a spokesman for the conservative American Crossroads, which reported spending $30 million supporting Republican candidates so far.

"The general philosophy is to look at districts where we could do our piece to shore up the firewall," said Ramona Oliver, a spokeswoman for America's Family First Action Fund. "We always know we're David to the right-wing Goliath, but we're trying to balance the scales."

The increase in outside spending in the 2010 election cycle is partially attributable to recent court decisions that eased campaign finance restrictions, including the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, allowing corporations, unions and non-profit groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.