Of Special Note, for Special Interests

NY Times ^ | November 4, 2004 | Carl Hulse

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Now that the elections are over, the race is on - the race to take credit for some of the victories, that is.

Interest groups that invested heavily in the victorious presidential and Congressional campaigns are touting their contributions to winning efforts to make it known that they are forces to be reckoned with.

For instance, today the National Rifle Association distributed a compilation of its work in South Dakota on behalf of Senator-elect John Thune, a Republican, in his successful effort to oust the Senate Democratic leader, Tom Daschle, from his South Dakota seat: 300 ads in 150 newspapers over three months, 1,200 radio spots on 50 stations, 750 television spots, 30 billboards and 150,000 combined mailings and phone calls.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the group Emily's List, which supports female candidates who back abortion rights, heralded the election of five new members it had promoted for the House, as well as the Democratic Senate incumbents supported by the group.

"Nationally, Emily's List members made more than 109,000 individual contributions to Emily's List candidates,'' a press release from the group declared. '' With an average contribution of just $98, Emily's List members contributed approximately $10.6 million to Emily's List candidates around the country.'''

Many others - the conservative Club for Growth, the League of Conservation Voters, the Republican Main Street Partnership - are trumpeting their aid as well. After all, what is the point of winning if you can't brag about it?