The New Money Game

Issue ads are the parties' latest ploy for skirting campaign-finance laws

Not so long ago, re-election looked like a breeze for New Jersey Representative Frank Pallone. A six-term Congressman in a district that tilts Democratic, he won his last two races handily with more than 60% of the vote. But this month an outfit called Americans for Job Security--in reality a front group led by large insurance companies furious with Pallone for heading the charge for managed-care reform--unveiled an anti-Pallone "issue ad": the TV spot blasts Pallone's positions without explicitly advocating his defeat. Among other things, it accuses him of voting to raid the Social Security trust fund to pay for welfare....

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