Freedom's Watch, the conservative group backed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is pretty much kaput, sources with knowledge of the organization said.
The group's dozens of staffers have been paid through the end of the year. After that, Freedom's Watch is likely to shut its doors permanently, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Technically an issue-advocacy group rather than a political campaign arm, Washington-based Freedom's Watch spent $30 million on television and radio ads in the general election, plus an undisclosed amount on mail and phone-call campaigns.
It was active in four U.S. Senate races and about three dozen congressional races, said spokesman Ed Patru, though he declined to say how the group's favored candidates did on Nov. 4.
A spokesman for the Crotch confirms that the org will be "downsizing", but adds that the group's board has yet to make any decisions about its future. With billionaire casino magnate Adelson hitting some hard financial times lately (dropping from #3 all the way down to 15 on the Forbes list of America's wealthiest people -- poor guy), perhaps he'll decide not to waste his money propping up congressional Republicans in future cycles.
It seems that Pete Domenici and Heather Wilson are now both in trouble from both sides of the political spectrum. While the two toers-of-the-GOP-party-line generally don't expect support from the progressive Dems, when the hawkish Republicans go after them... then they know they're in trouble.
And this group is spending some serious cash on the two New Mexico Republicans. According to a list e-mailed from Americans United for Change, reprinted at Daily Kos, the group is spending over $250,000 on these ads targeting Wilson and Domenici. This is the fourth-most being spent in a single area, remarkable considering two of the other targets are in Philadelphia, PA and Washington DC -- much more expensive media markets. This group really is going after Domenici and Wilson.
I won't get into the problems with the right-wing ad itself -- I'll let Americans United for Change do that, in a video you can see below the fold, but instead discuss its effects on Domenici and Wilson.
