Well, it’s probably not illegal. But any shred of credibility Adam Green and the so-called “Bold Progressives” had is now officially gone.
Progressive Change Campaign Committee Treasurer Adam Green purchased the URL ColberSuperPAC.com, omitting the t in Stephen Colbert’s name, and then redirected that URL to his own PAC web site in an apparent attempt to steal critical membership and donations away from Colbert’s PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. Colbert announced Friday night on his show, The Colbert Report, more than 100,000 previous ABTT members need to sign up a second time because the organization is now a super-PAC.According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, Adam Green registered colbersuperpac.com at Godaddy.com, Inc. on July 1, 2011 for one year using the same address he used to register PCCC with the Federal Election Commission. Soon afterward, the URL began redirecting unwitting ABTT supporters to Green’s PCCC PAC website, soliciting memberships and donations intended for ABTT via a splash page similar to the graphic included here. If you attempted to become a member of ABTT via ColbertSuperPAC.com and recall having entered via a porthole resembling the one pictured with this story, you may have to try again.
It’s important to note that Green built a special splash page specifically for ColberSuperPAC.com redirects even though the page more resembles his own PAC’s web site than Colbert’s ColbertSuperPAC.com web site because Green having done so raises more questions about his actions.
SoldOutsandSellOuts, who is reporting this, references the Corrente blog who describes the PCCC thusly:
[T]heir website has all the marks of a D front organization, a Trojan Horse: the “Obama look,” combining the Gotham font, blue, and gradients; no visible board; no explanation of funding…
I am fine with groups taking approaches I don’t agree with (as the PCCC does) so long as they are honest brokers. I may criticize them but at least we can have an intelligent discussion. But when you have groups pulling this sort of deceptive bullshit, the red flags start a-poppin’.
Angry Black Lady sums it up nicely:
“PCCC purports to be using donations to elect bold progressives, yet in 2010 the PCCC spent $2 million while donating a mere $35,000 to federal and state candidate election efforts – that’s less than 2 percent. Still, somehow, Adam Green took in a tidy $78,000 salary. Funny, that.”
This is the kind of thing that hurts the progressive cause in general because they all end up getting tarred with the same brush, whether they are culpable or not.
In my mind, the PCCC has lost any remaining credibility it had with this nonsense. If you can’t win the battle with resorting to deceptive fundraising practices, you’re doing it wrong.
Hat tip: Angry Black Lady Chronicles.
