Illinois Congressman Phil Hare Being Attacked By Secretive Group

A secretive 501c(4) organization is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to defeat Illinois Democratic Congressman Phil Hare (who was the subject of a dishonest smear campaign from Adam Sharp). Bill Lambrecht of the Post-Dispatch reports:

Schilling, 46, the father of ten, is getting a boost from the American Future Fund, which announced this month that it would spend $500,000 to defeat Hare. The Des Moines-based group is running an ad recalling the vote in Congress on the new health insurance laws.

The American Future Fund was founded by a GOP operative and funded partly by a big player in ethanol. Not much more is known because it is among the groups invoking a 501(c)4 tax status to shield contributors.

(The fund's backing is a bit of a paradox given that Hare is a big ethanol supporter and was endorsed yesterday by the Illinois Corn Growers Association and received $2,000 from the St. Louis-based National Corn Growers Association.)

The Des Moines Register reported Sunday that the fund's address was a mailbox in a shipping store.

Nonetheless, with at least $7 million in spending, the American Future Fund has become a force nationally, ranking behind only Karl Rove's two Crossroads groups in giving by the new conservative advocacy groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Once again secretive, elite operatives are trying to subvert democracy by spending boatloads of cash anonymously. You can help fight this by donating to Phil Hare's campaign or signing up to help out. If we don't fight, the Adam Sharps and anonymous billionaires will win.

Update: Sounds like the Hare campaign was not endorsed by the ICGA, which as a matter of policy does not endorse candidates.