Third-Party Groups Taking Over This Election Year

Oct. 6, 2010 — -- To Democratic Rep. John Spratt, the TV ads running in his South Carolina congressional district are unrelenting.

"Washington liberals are trying to trick you," says one TV ad from the American Future Fund. "Spratt voted for Nancy Pelosi's agenda more than 98 percent of the time."

According to the Nielsen Company, almost 500 TV ads airing in Spratt's district come from third-party independent groups that are not bound by the same campaign finance laws that Spratt, a 28-year veteran who heads the House Budget Committee, must follow.

"Money that's coming in from unidentified, nondisclosed groups is, dwarfs anything that I've ever seen before," Spratt said.

Because of Supreme Court decisions earlier this year on campaign spending, in this election cycle the rules are much looser for these groups. And they're having a huge impact in some key races.

"At a very minimum, they [the groups] should disclose who they are, what they want and what their purpose is," Spratt told ABC News. "They're drowning out the voices of the people of South Carolina."

Unlike in previous elections, these groups now can attack candidates more directly and many never have to reveal who's funding them -- even as they raise and spend unlimited amounts of cash from individuals, corporations and unions. They cannot give money directly to candidates or coordinate their efforts with individual campaigns.

The restrictions vary depending on how the group registers itself, but without question the rules have been loosened significantly.

In his State of the Union this year, President Obama slammed the high court's decision that led to this current scenario. He also commented on the groups during a Wisconsin rally in September. "They're posing as nonprofit groups with names likes Americans for Prosperity ... or Americans for Apple Pie," he said to laughter. "I made that last one up."

The president said that all of these groups are headed by Republican consultants, which isn't true, but Republican-leaning groups are clearly dominant. GOP-leaning groups have spent $24.8 million on Senate and House ads from Aug. 1 to Sept. 20 compared to $4.9 million by Democratic-leaning groups, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group.