As stated in the note from the Sunlight Foundation′s Board Chair, as of September 2020 the Sunlight Foundation is no longer active. This site is maintained as a static archive only.

Follow Us

Tag Archive: Political Ad Sleuth

Ad watch: RNC launches attack on Hillary Clinton

by

It's the dog days of August. It's more than three years till the next presidential election. But the Republican National Committee is attacking like it's 2016 already.

The spot above, which just appeared in Ad Hawk, Sunlight's mobile app that helps voters learn who's putting up the money behind ads, has all the earmarks of a preemptive strike against a Hillary Clinton for president campaign. The ad features Clinton's emotional testimony to Congress on the deaths of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Benghazi, Libya while she was secretary of state.

At 31 seconds, it ...

Continue reading

Obama visits Chattanooga: Land of GOP votes and Democratic bucks

by

President Barack Obama, who lately has been doing a lot of worrying aloud about the decline of the middle class, on Tuesday takes his rolling conversation about the economy to Tennessee, where local Republicans have prepared a not-so-welcome wagon.

The 30-second ad seen above, produced by the Tennessee Republican Party, showed up over the weekend in Ad Hawk, Sunlight's database of political advertisements. It credits the Volunteer State's economic successes to conservative policies, including one that makes it harder for unions to organize. In fact, however, Tennessee is not a bright spot when it comes to jobs: The ...

Continue reading

Political ad watch: Now starring Steve King

by

Rep. Steve King has a starring role in a Democratic ad blitz that seeks to hang the Iowa Republican's latest controversial remarks about immigrants around the necks of Republicans trying to appeal to constituencies with heavily Hispanic votes.

The political powerhouse labor union SEIU has just released a Spanish-language ad that targets seven Republican House members, challenging them to say whether they agree with comments that "insult our families" or support legislation that would provide millions of immigrants now living illegally in the United States with a pathway to citizenship. Sunlight spotted the new campaign on Ad Hawk, our ...

Continue reading

Americans for Prosperity takes aim at farm bill

by

Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a 501(c)4 non-profit backed by the family behind the Koch Industries conglomerate, is lining up with some unusual partners as it launches a multi-media campaign against the farm bill that the U.S. House of Representatives is set to consider this week.

As the House takes up the bill, AFP has started an Internet ad campaign targeting 15 members of the House of Representatives, including House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, according to a press release the group issued Monday. In addition, the organization has launched an email campaign urging voters to contact their lawmakers ...

Continue reading

Research Tool Kit: Immigration bills, lobbying, issue ads and more

by

Today, the U.S. Senate will consider the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill and to mark the occasion, we put together a handy research guide on everything we have on immigration policy. Legislation Follow the bill on Scout, and get updates on all immigration bills around the U.S., congressional speeches and more. Check out an interactive timeline that covers 125 years of immigration policy and legislation in the United States. Q: Who said “immigration reform” the most in Congress? A: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) … even though he left office in 2009. Lobbying Since January, 61 people filed new registration forms, according to Sunlight’s Lobbying Tracker, with companies seeking more high-skilled foreign workers, led by the tech sector, driving the April and May uptick. This year already surpasses the 54 registrations from all of 2011 and 42 new reports from 2012 that reported immigration as an issue.

Continue reading

Anti-Keystone group spends big on DC TV ads

by

A coalition of environmental groups hit the Washington airwaves during the Sunday morning talk shows with ads pressuring Secretary of State John Kerry to oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, which is under review at his agency.

The All Risk, No Reward Coalition spent a total of $28,000 to run a 30-second ad on Fox News Sunday and CBS's "Face The Nation" on Washington TV stations, documents in Political Ad Sleuth show.  It follows two other TV ads the group ran in April in Nebraska and D.C. TV markets. The latest ad urges the Kerry to heed the ...

Continue reading

FAIR drops multi-state TV buy against Senate immigration bill

by

Last update: June 4, 6:40 p.m.

One week before the Senate is to begin debating a sweeping immigration reform bill that has bipartisan support, a leading opposition group is launching a multi-state ad buy, records in Political Ad Sleuth reveal.

UPDATE: The Federation for American Reform has spent at least $89,250 on TV buys in various markets this year, after TV stations posted more ad contracts Tuesday, according to a review of Ad Sleuth records (You can view all of the ad buys here). And in addition to the TV markets mentioned below, the group's ad ...

Continue reading

CFC (Combined Federal Campaign) Today 59063

Charity Navigator