Freedom's Watch

Freedom's Watch is a Washington D.C. based 501(c)(4) lobbying organization. Freedom's Watch is supportive of the Bush administration's positions in the War on Terror and of Republican Congressional candidates. The group is run and supported, in part, by several former officials of the Bush administration. [ [http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/22/328681.aspx The donors behind those new TV ads - First Read - msnbc.com ] ] The organization states that its goal is "educating individuals about and advancing public policies that protect America’s interests at home and abroad, foster economic prosperity, and strengthen families." [ [http://www.freedomswatch.org/About/tabid/38/Default.aspx "Freedom's Watch web site: 'About Us' page" ] ] In the 2008 election cycle, Freedom's Watch purchased advertisements in support of Republican congressional candidates.

Origins

Freedom's Watch has tight connections to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and the American Enterprise Institute.cite news
url=http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2008/01/betting-on-red.html
title=Betting on Red
author=Peter Stone
publisher=Mother Jones
date=2008-01] The group was conceived at a Florida meeting of the RJC in March 2007cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/us/politics/30watch.html
title=Big Coffers and a Rising Voice Lift Group on the Right
publisher=The New York Times
author=Don Van Natta
date=2007-09-30] cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/19/AR2008011902309_pf.html
title=A Conservative Answer to MoveOn
publisher=Washington Post
date=2008-01-20] in part to counter MoveOn.org and help the Bush administration sell its Iraq policy. It was founded by a dozen conservatives of immense wealth, most notably Sheldon Adelson, who donated almost all of its initial funding.cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/12/us/politics/12freedom.html
title=Great Expectations for a Conservative Group Seem All but Dashed
publisher=The New York Times
author=Michael Luo
date=2008-04-12] Four out of five members of Freedom's Watch original board are Republican Jews, and four of the eight initial donors are Jewish, though board member Matt Brooks said "it would be a mistake to regard the group as having a Jewish direction," and noted that "half of the donors contributing to the group's first $15 million ad campaign are not Jewish."cite news
url=http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/103795.html
title=Pro-'surge' group is almost all Jewish
publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency
date=2007-08-24] [cite news
url=http://www.amconmag.com/2007/2007_10_08/article1.html
title=Surge Protectors
publisher=The American Conservative
author=Philip Weiss
date=2007-10-08]

In 2008, the group became paralyzed by internal problems and plagued by gridlock and infighting, with operatives complaining of Adelson's insistence on parceling out money project by project limiting the group's ability to plan and be nimble. For example, the group spent weeks working on a package for the presidential election, only for Adelson to decline to fund it. Some staff members blamed the problems on Freedom's Watch president Bradley Blakeman, who resigned in March 2008.

Positions

Freedom's Watch believes that President Bush's Iraq War policies should be supported. "More and more Democratic and Republican members agree: The surge in Iraq is working," according to one ad. "Victory is America's only choice." [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/middleeast/05adbo.html "Battle over Iraq strategy" "New York Times"] retrieved 30 Sept 2007] The group also claims that Iran is a grave threat to the United States and Israel. According to the group's president, "If Hitler's warnings were heeded when he wrote 'Mein Kampf,' he could have been stopped." Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he continues, "is giving all the same kind of warning signs to us, and the region — he wants the destruction of the United States and the destruction of Israel." One ad calls Ahmadenijad "a terrorist."

Board

*Ari Fleischer,cite news
url=http://www.newsmax.com/washington_insider_with_ronald_kessler/freedom_watch_ads/2007/08/23/26832.html
title=Freedom's Watch to Rival MoveOn Funding
publisher=Newsmax.com
date=2007-08-23
retrieved 3 July 2008] a former Bush press secretary.
*Matthew Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).
*Mel Sembler, a longtime RJC leader and former ambassador to Italy who helped finance the 2000 Florida recount battle.
*William Weidner, a Las Vegas casino operator.The original president was Bradley Blakeman, though he resigned in March 2008 after a series of high-level staff departures. [cite news
url=http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2008/03/blakeman_leaves_freedoms_watch.html
title=Blakeman Leaves Freedom's Watch
author=Chris Cilliza
publisher=The Washington Post
date=2008-03-07]

Notable donors

Freedom's Watch's donors include:cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/22/AR2007082202555.html
title=Left, Right Proxies Push on Iraq
publisher=The Washington Post
date=2007-08-23]
*Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation and the fifteenth richest American in "Forbes magazine's" rankings last year, is the top donor.
*Mel Sembler
*John Templeton, Jr, board member of the Templeton Growth Fund and financier of "Let Freedom Ring".
*Kevin E. Moley, former U.S. ambassador to international organizations in Geneva, and a senior adviser to Dick Cheney during the 2000 campaign.
*Howard Leach, CEO of Leach Capital and former ambassador to France who also helped fund the Florida recount.
*Anthony Gioia, head of Gioia Management and former ambassador to Malta.
*Richard Fox, co-founder of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
*Gary Erlbaum, owner of Greentree Properties.
*Ed Snyder, owner of the Philadelphia Flyers and 76'ers.

Advertising

On August 22, 2007 Freedom's Watch announced a $15 million advertising and grass-roots campaign in 20 U.S. states to maintain Republican support for President Bush's policies. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/21/AR2007082102025.html "Democrats Refocus Message on Iraq After Military Gains." "Washington Post"] ] The ads rolled out upon this announcement focused on sacrifices being made by U.S. troops and their families.

On September 13, the group aired a new television ad, challenging a MoveOn.org advertisement which questioned the integrity of General David Petraeus saying "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" and "Cooking the Books for the White House." [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/10/petraeus.moveon/index.html GOP calls on top Senate Dem to condemn anti-Petraeus ad - CNN.com ] ] The advertisement stated, "Name calling, charges of betrayal it's despicable. It's what MoveOn shamefully does — and it's wrong. America and the forces of freedom are winning. MoveOn is losing. Call your Congressman and Senator. Tell them to condemn MoveOn." They also plan to run print advertisements on the subject. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070913/ap_on_el_pr/war_ads_3 "Pro-Bush group airs new war ads" "Associated Press"] ]

Freedom's Watch also purchased advertisements during the 2008 election cycle in support of Republican congressional candidates. For example, the group purchased $550,000 in advertising in the Mississippi 1st district special election in support of Republican candidate Greg Davis. [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121063931008986951.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_topbox A House Race Holds Clues for GOP] , Susan Davis, "The Wall Street Journal", May 13, 2008.] The group also ran ads in support of Republican candidates in two other special elections to fill vacant house seats in Illinois and Louisiana. All three Republicans were subsequently defeated by their Democratic challengers in historically Republican districts.

Criticism

Freedom's Watch's first major advertising campaign emphasized the sacrifice of U.S. troops and their families in Iraq. As "The New York Times" wrote, "Several of the group's spots suggested that Iraq, rather than Al Qaeda, was behind the Sept. 11 attacks, even though the independent Sept. 11 commission investigation and other inquiries found no evidence of Iraq's involvement." ABC News, among others, concurred: "The ads also link the war with Sept. 11, despite no reliable evidence Iraq played any role in those attacks." [cite news|title=Selling the War, Through Advertising|url=http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=3512978|date=2007-08-22|accessdate=2007-09-30|publisher=ABC News|author=Jake Tapper|coauthors=Avery Miller] In one advertisement, a war widow claims, "I lost two family members to Al Qaeda -- my uncle, a firefighter, on 9/11, and my husband, Travis, in Iraq. Congress did the right thing, voting to defeat terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan," adding that, "Switching their votes now, for political reasons, it will mean more attacks in America." In another ad, an Iraq war veteran states, "They attacked us, and they will again. They won't stop in Iraq." [ [http://mediamatters.org/items/200708240001?f=h_latest "Media reports on Freedoms Watch advertisements don't note misinformation"] ]

In 2008, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee charged that, in a Congressional race in Louisiana, Freedom's Watch was running a television advertisement with a script that came from the National Republican Congressional Committee. Such coordination with the NRCC would be illegal for Freedom's Watch because of the latter's status as an independent group. A media consultant working for Freedom's Watch responded that the apparent origin of the script with the NRCC was the result of an innocent mistake. [Citation| last = Kane| first =Paul| title = Democrats Accuse GOP Campaign Arm Of Covertly Writing Ad| newspaper = The Washington Post| pages = A03| year = 2008| date = April 16, 2008| url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041503030.html]

References

External links

* [http://www.freedomswatch.org Official site]
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Freedom%27s_Watch#Pro-war_in_Iraq_ad_campaign Congresspedia article on Freedoms Watch]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/22/AR2007082202555.html?sub=AR "Left, Right Proxies Push on Iraq"] , "Washington Post", August 23, 2007
* [http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/08/22/328681.aspx The Donors Behind Those New TV Ads]
* [http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1655454,00.html Republicans Launch Iraq Ads]
* [http://freedomswatch.newsladder.net Freedoms Watch Newsladder]
*cite news
url=http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/11/freedoms-watch-iran.html
title=Focus Grouping War with Iran
publisher=Mother Jones
date=2007-11-19
author=Laura Rozen