Wednesday's
presidential debate is one of those Big Moments--and not just for the candidates
competing. The army of opposition researchers at American Bridget 21st Century,
a Washington-based liberal super PAC, has prepared for more than a year for
nights like this. Dozens of Democratic worker bees have combed through
thousands of hours of video of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. And they plan to
unload the worst of what they've dug up in the run-up to the debate.
The
onslaught began last weekend, when American Bridge launched the first stage of
their Romney take down with a Web video highlighting
what they point to as falsehoods from the candidate's past. The video came with
a lengthy memo (posted on the site and distributed to reporters), which noted
that self-identified fact checkers like Politifact or the Washington Post make
the same argument about several of Romney's remarks. On Tuesday, the group
began releasing a slew of
opposition research documents about
Romney's positions on a range of policy areas, and they plan to release 20 in
all by the start of the debate.
"We're
planning to use our archive of research and video to set the record straight on
Romney's inevitable distortions Wednesday night," said American Bridge
spokesman Chris Harris.
Once the
debate is over, American Bridge will fire off a series of rapid response videos
highlighting when they think Romney veered--even slightly--from the truth. And
it will have on hand its media and research staff to react to anything
unexpected that may have happened during the live debate.
At least for
this first debate, other major Democratic outside groups will be looking to
American Bridge to spearhead fact checking and research, since it has one of
the most comprehensive troves of material. It expects the Democratic Party to
handle the traditional rapid response operations, so it can focus on
disseminating its video archives. Other groups have different missions.
Priorities USA Action, a Democratic super PAC established in 2011 by former
Obama aides, will have its leaders go on television and radio.
Meanwhile,
Republican outside groups certainly don't plan to sit on the sidelines
Wednesday, but the top conservative super PACs aren't planning as comprehensive
of an ambush surrounding the debate. American Crossroads, a prominent
conservative super PAC, will release a Web video that highlights Obama's own
whoppers while a team of researchers prepares rapid response letters to blast
out to members of the media. They also will post live updates about the debate
on Twitter to back up Romney online. Restore Our Future, the main super PAC
supporting Romney, declined to comment about its debate plans.
The goal of
the strategy for both sides, of course, is to undercut the candidate's
integrity before the debate moderator utters a single question. While super
PACs are not legally allowed to coordinate with candidates, their work will
serve as a supplement to the campaigns and the political parties behind them,
who will already be spinning the debate throughout the night.
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