American Crossroads robocalls tell Washington voters to back Rossi

Introduction

A Skamokawa, Wash., reader alerted us to a statewide robocall by American Crossroads, a conservative group flush with cash that opposes the re-election of Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.

The nearly 40-second recorded message says “Senator Patty Murray is no longer the mom in tennis shoes who promised to go to Washington and fight the deficit. In the past three years alone, Murray has supported raising the U.S. debt limit six out of six times, by over $5.3 trillion. Patty Murray is completely out of touch and out of control.” The male voice concludes by urging listeners to vote for Republican Dino Rossi.

American Crossroads is the Section 527 political committee connected to the 501(c)(4) non-profit group Crossroads GPS. Both have links to Republican strategists Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove. Unlike Crossroads GPS, American Crossroads does publicly disclose the names of its large donors and they include Texas billionaire Harold Simmons and Bob Perry, a Houston homebuilder known for financing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Sadie Weiner, communications director for Washington state Democrats, told You Report: Election 2010 that independent groups have already spent more than $6.3 million on advertisements attacking Murray and boosting Rossi — the most of any race in the country.

“Who knows how much more they have spent on misleading robocalls and scare tactic mailers,” Weiner said, adding that much of the money has come from Crossroads GPS, the arm funded by secret donors. “Washington state voters certainly don’t know and they can’t find out since Karl Rove and Crossroads are trying to buy this election without coming clean about their donors.”

A spokesman for American Crossroads did not respond to a request for comment.

Listen to a recording of the call here.

Ad Title: Untitled Robocall

Paid for By: American Crossroads

Disclaimer: Paid for American Crossroads, 202-640-5367. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.