We've heard a lot in the past few days about how the tax-cut compromise between President Obama and congressional Republicans has divided Democrats. But guess what? It's dividing Republicans as well. While 31 Senate Republicans voted for cloture on the deal, moving it toward a vote, opposition on the right has been building. Rush Limbaugh is railing against it, Sarah Palin has come out against it, and so has Mitt Romney, whose antennae are finely tuned to any opportunity to pander to the right.
But here's something weird: Crossroads GPS, the organization started this year by Republican super-operatives Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie to air ads attacking Democrats all over the country, is not just in favor of the tax compromise, they're actually airing radio ads attacking some Democrats for ... well, not for opposing it but for maybe not eventually supporting it:
This ad is a little confusing -- "Nancy Pelosi is blocking the bipartisan plan"? Huh? Actually, Pelosi is going to be performing some sort of as-yet-undetermined legislative needle-threading to get this thing passed (just you wait). But the point is, Rove and Gillespie are trying to get people mad at a Democratic congressman for not supporting something Barack Obama is going to be begging him to support.
Part of the reason they're airing this ad is accounting -- as a 501(c)(4) organization, Crossroads GPS can engage in political campaign activity, but its primary purpose is supposed to be supporting the public welfare. Advocating on legislation counts as the latter, and if they spend enough money on it, they can keep the IRS off their backs and keep their donors secret. Since they're reaching the end of the year, they have to get some "public welfare" spending on their books. But the fact that they choose to do so on this issue, one that is dividing the Republican establishment (for the deal) from its Tea Party base (against it) is kind of interesting.
Of course, it could be that this is all some sort of clever bank shot to sow Democratic division by convincing Democrats that Republicans support the tax cut compromise. Who knows?
-- Paul Waldman
