A Washington Post take-out on American Action Network president Rob Collins today describes the gumption of a man in the forefront of our new era of independent expenditures and anonymous political donations by powerful, moneyed interests.
It also describes the Washington office of former Minnesota senator Norm Coleman, the group's director: "… on Friday, Coleman's office -- a dark room with a chessboard on the table and a Vikings helmet on a bookcase -- was empty. By contrast, Collins's office was cluttered with papers and he groaned with frustration every time he typed a parenthesis around the c in 501(c)(4). His computer, he explained, turned it into a ©." The entire piece can be read here. The American Action Network boasts that it has pumped $16 million in hard-to-trace money into ad campaigns targetting 22 House Democrats. Among them is Minnesota Democrat Tim Walz in southern Minnesota, where the group has spent $175,000, according to federal election records. (Update -- Collins responds: "With regards to your most recent post about Senator Coleman, I cannot disagree more. Senator Coleman has been without question the critical day-to-day leader and visionary for the American Action Network. Senator Coleman has been unbelievably dedicated to travelling the country to promote the very center-right policies and policymakers that the American Action Network supports. Simply put, without Senator Coleman there would be no American Action Network. ")
