The “No Surprises” campaign promises that Bachmann won’t have any surprises in her policy positions, unlike her competitors for the Republican presidential nomination. The campaign is part of Bachmann’s attempt to position herself as the most ideological conservative in the race.

“Elections should be simple—we shouldn’t have to settle for a candidate or compromise on issues,” said Bachmann’s campaign manager Keith Nahigian in an email to supporters on Sunday. “With Michele Bachmann—we don’t have to. With Michele Bachmann, there are no surprises. This morning our campaign launched a new website, No Surprises 2012, which highlights Michele’s opponents double-talk and inconsistent stances on the issues that matter most to you and me.”

The campaign has launched a new website to go along with the video. The website seems to be targeting Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

In his email, Nahigian added, “There is no question that this election will decide the future of our great nation. We cannot afford a candidate who will flip-flop on the issues and ‘say one thing but do another.’ As the proven Tea Party leader against the Obama agenda, Michele is the true consistent conservative in this race, and the only one who will protect our constitutional conservative principles.”

Boisclair works for the Society for Truth and Justice, an anti-abortion group whose staffers are running primary challenges around the country in order to exploit a campaign law loophole and get graphic ads aired on broadcast television, as the Minnesota Independent first reported.

In a press release titled, “Christian challenges Muslim for congressional seat,” Boisclair announced that he had launched his first ad.

“We did not pick this fight,” Boisclair said. “Islam’s war against Christianity and human liberty has raged against us for 1,400 years. We are merely responding with the truth.”

“The call to violent acts against Christians and Jews within this ‘holy’ book should alarm every American. The fact that a U.S. Congressman swore an oath on a book that calls for most of us to be persecuted is an outrage.”

The video was deemed offensive by Youtube and promptly pulled from the video hosting service. Ellison praised the move.

“I’d like to thank YouTube for removing the ad because it violated the company’s ‘policy on shocking and disgusting content,’” Ellison wrote in a statement. “The people of Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District elected me to uphold our Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion for every American. I intend to maintain the high level of civility the voters expect and deserve. And, I will continue working with our communities to organize for greater inclusion of people of all faiths and backgrounds.”

Boisclair, who currently works in Washington, DC, for the Society for Truth and Justice is one of several candidates from that organization running in primary challenges against House members in order to force local media outlets to air the candidates’ ads no matter how graphic.

The Federal Communications Act of 1934 says that all candidates for a specific office must have equal access to public airwaves.

Randall Terry, an anti-abortion activist who founded the group, is also running a Democratic primary challenge against President Obama. Earlier this week, Terry began soliciting $100,000 in donations to air graphic anti-abortion ads in the 2012 Democratic primaries and caucuses.

Boisclair told the Hopkins Patch that he doesn’t yet have the money to air his anti-Islam ads, but hopes to in time for the election

Here’s Boisclair’s new ad:

“Despite this week’s vote in the Senate, millions of Americans are still out of work, the middle class is still under attack, and the corporate-backed politicians don’t have a plan to create jobs,” AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee said in a statement on Thursday. “Americans are reclaiming their voice in a Main Street Movement that spans from Madison to Columbus to New York to cities across the nation. Washington can help them by passing the American Jobs Act now.”

Cravaack has said he opposes the jobs bill, but is facing pressure in the district to support President Obama’s proposal. Earlier this week, residents held a “jobs vigil” to convince Cravaack to vote for the jobs bill.

Here’s the AFSCME ad targeting Cravaack:

Keep Conservatives United, a super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, is airing ads in Iowa attacking Rick Perry for signing an executive order mandating HPV vaccines in that state. The ad buy mirrors Bachmann’s own stance on the issue—she has stated that HPV vaccines are dangerous despite scientific consensus to the contrary.

“Governor Perry says his vaccine mandate on eleven year old girls was just about cancer,” KCU founder Bob Harris said in a news release about the ad. “Then why did Governor Perry ignore doctors who opposed his order because they were concerned about both parental rights and vaccine safety? And if Rick Perry was just fighting cancer, then what were the lobbyists doing and why was the Governor grabbing the money?”

Perry issued an executive order in 2007 that mandated that girls entering sixth grade take the cancer-preventing vaccine. The order also contained a provision allowing parents to opt-out if they objected to the vaccine.

Bachmann hit Perry on the vaccine at the most recent debate, but took it further when she asserted that the vaccine may cause mental retardation, a claim she has since backed away from.

The group is purchasing ads in the Cedar Rapids media market. Here’s the ad:

A conservative PAC aligned with U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid is targeting Texas Gov. Rick Perry on immigration in a spate of radio ads starting Tuesday in South Carolina.

The ads by Keep Conservatives United (KCU) paint Perry as being soft on illegal immigration and says “illegals take jobs.”

The radio ads supplement two television ads that have been running in the state in support of Bachmann since mid-August.

“The ad shows voters in next year’s critical South Carolina primary the clear differences between Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry on illegal immigration,” Bob Harris of KCU said in a statement on the website. “It will reach a politically attuned audience for a week to build support for Bachmann.”

The PAC has been airing two television ads targeting Perry. One targets his spending:

Another ad accuses Perry of embracing President Bush:

Bachmann, of course, has been the target of ads that poke fun at her embrace of President Bush:

Rep. Chip Cravaack is facing yet another ad campaign from progressive groups. The Communications Workers of America is robo-calling in Cravaack’s district, as well as distributing a mailer pressuring the first-term congressman to vote against a proposal by Republican leadership that would scale back organizing rights in a Federal Aviation Administration authorization bill.

Under the bill proposed by Republicans, aviation workers who abstain from voting to be a part of a union would be counted as a “no” vote. Senate Democrats and President Obama point to that provision as the crucial sticking point for protecting workers in these negotiations. The disagreement has prevented FAA authorization from going through. The FAA was shut down briefly in July over the standoff. In the temporary authorization passed just before Congress’ August recess, Republicans included a defunding of rural airports, particularly in Sen. Harry Reid’s Nevada.

The ad campaign asks Cravaack to vote for the FAA authorization bill which would need to be passed by Sept. 16 or the FAA would shut down.

Here’s the mailer:

Cravaack, who was an airline pilot and member of a union, is currently receiving disability payments secured through the pilots’ union. Cravaack blamed the shutdown of the FAA on Sen. Reid.

“The uncertainty Minnesota working families and aviation employees experienced was completely avoidable,” Cravaack said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Reid was more concerned about the airport located within his district than he was about an entire FAA shutdown impacting tens of thousands of FAA jobs and working families across the United States.

“It’s unfortunate that some are now pointing fingers, as this dilutes our number one priority of creating sustainable jobs for Minnesotans,” Cravaack continued. “I urge Senator Reid and Chairman Rockefeller to complete a long-term FAA bill that can be signed into law to help this troubled economy, instead of a temporary extension.”

A pair of campaign finance complaints against the National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council were dismissed by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board on Wednesday. Common Cause Minnesota had filed the complaints alleging that advertising by the two groups on an anti-gay marriage amendment in 2010 constituted lobbying. The board ruled that the ads were too vague to trigger the registration requirement for lobbyists.

The board dismissed the complaint against the Minnesota Family Council because the group did not pay for the ads. Though the ads were listed as “Paid for by the Minnesota Family Council and the National Organization for Marriage,” the Family Council did not actually contribute any funds to the ad campaign.

MFC’s CEO John Helmberger told the board,

Because of their shared goals of preserving traditional marriage in Minnesota, National Organization for Marriage asked MFC to help plan the production and placement of the [subject] ads. While MFC had input as to the production and placement of these ads, MFC did not pay for any part of their production or broadcast, nor is it obligated to reimburse the National Organization for Marriage for any part of the cost of producing or broadcasting the ads. Further, during 2010 MFC did not make any contribution to the National Organization for Marriage.

Based on that, the board dismissed the complaint from the group.

“There is no probable cause to believe that MFC paid for or is obligated to pay for any cost of creation, production, distribution, or broadcasting of the subject communications,” the board wrote.

The board also dismissed the complaint against NOM: “There is no probable cause to believe that NOM engaged in activities during 2010 that would require it to report as a principal [lobbyist].”

Because the ads were vague, NOM did not actually lobby for the anti–gay marriage amendment, the board noted. At issue is the fact that although NOM advocated the election of Tom Emmer who supported the amendment, the governor has no say in constitutional amendments.

“The legislation most clearly implied in the ads is the constitutional amendment to define marriage,” the board wrote. “While the next Governor may advocate for a legislative action, the Governor himself or herself can neither force nor prevent the placing a constitutional amendment question before the voters.”

The board also concluded that since no bills on same-sex marriage were active in the Minnesota Legislature at the time the ads came out, the ads did no constitute lobbying.

“Some of the ads also refer generally to the claim that Dayton, Horner, or the DFL legislature want to impose gay marriage on Minnesotans. Considering the fact that at the time the ads ran, there were no active bills and the composition of the next legislature could not be predicted, these references are too remote and vague to constitute an attempt to influence legislative action.”

The board added, “Any influence the ads may have on a the actions of future legislature, the composition of which will not be known until after the 2010 elections, is too speculative to permit regulation of the ads under Minnesota’s principal disclosure statutes.”

Copies of the decisions can be viewed on the board’s website.

Rep. Tim Walz is being targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee with a television ad critical of his vote for health care reform. The move comes after a series of robocalls by the NRCC. Walz is in his third term in Minnesota’s First Congressional District and has only one announced challenger, Randy Demmer. Demmer lost to Walz in 2010.

“There’s a cloud over our economy,” the narrator says over the backdrop of a thunderstorm. “Tim Walz’s government takeover of health care. Fear and uncertainty prevent new hiring. Steep fines and new taxes on families and businesses. Half a trillion dollars – money they can’t use to create jobs. Experts say Obama-Schrader will push employers to drop workers’ health insurance. With Walz and Obama…the storm will only get worse.”

According to Roll Call, the ad buy will be $10,000 over three weeks starting Tuesday on cable TV.

Last week, the NRCC hit Walz with robo calls, blaming Walz for the nation’s credit downgrade:

“Tim Walz and his fellow Democrats’ addiction to big government spending has led to a downgrade of America’s credit rating and a dramatic loss in the global markets that could force you to pay more for everyday expenses. While Tim Walz keeps standing in the way of real fiscal reform, middle-class families in Minnesota could now see a loss in retirement savings while mortgage rates, car payments and student loans could become even more expensive.”

Walz has been viewed as vulnerable by Republican since he won the seat in an upset against Republican Gil Gutknecht in 2006. He beat Gutknecht by 6 percent that year, by 30 percent against Brian Davis in 2008 and by 5 percent against Demmer in 2008.

Demmer registered his 2012 campaign against Walz in Febraury and the campaign has a debt of $93,000. Walz had $400,000 on hand at the end of June.

The ad wars in the 8th Congressional District continued this weekend with the announcement that Americans United for Change plans to spend “five figures” on a television ad campaign targeting four members of the House who voted for Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal. The ad buy targets Rep. Chip Cravaack for backing the measure, which includes drastic changes to Medicare through a voucher system for private insurance. Cravaack is also being targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but he’s got defenders: The conservative 60 Plus Association has bought ads of its own.

“If Republicans have their way, there would be no more guaranteed Medicare benefits for America’s seniors, only a guarantee of paying more and more out of pocket for less care after being left to the mercy to the private insurance industry,” said AUC executive director Tom McMahon in a statement. “There would only be a guarantee that millions of Americans would lose their jobs – only a guarantee that America’s poor and disabled will live sicker and die younger while millionaires get another tax break they don’t need and the nation cannot afford.”

He added, “This is not a path to prosperity, only a path to bankrupting seniors so Paris Hilton and BP can have another tax break. And there’s nothing courageous about that.”

In addition to Cravaack, the ad buy targets Rep. Steve King of Iowa, as well as Wisconsin Reps. Sean Duffy and Paul Ryan. Here’s the ad targeting Cravaack:

The DCCC spent several hundred dollars in the 8th to target Cravaack last week for his vote to “end Medicare.” In response, the conservative 60 Plus Association is launching $65,000 worth of radio ads thanking Cravaack for “protecting Medicare.“

When the National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads promoting a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions last fall, the groups should have reported those expenditures, according to a complaint filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board earlier this month. The complaint, which focuses on ads launched throughout the 2010 campaign cycle in support of gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, asks for financial penalties as well as an audit of NOM’s spending in Minnesota.

The filing by Common Cause Minnesota alleges that the Minnesota Family Council — and in particular its lobbyist, Tom Prichard — failed to report lobbying expenses related to several ads. Since the ad urged the public and legislators to act on legislation, in this case a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, it constitutes lobbying, the group argues in the complaint. The ads in question include references to an actual bill, SF120, and were created and distributed in partnership with NOM.

Here’s the ad:

The complaint also addresses three other ads by MFC and NOM, charging that each of the ads, two for radio and one for television, constituted lobbying, yet went unreported:

First, it tells the public to contact DFL lawmakers. The ad states: “Most DFL lawmakers don’t want you to have a say. When they ask for your support, ask them if they will guarantee your right to vote on marriage.” Second, it identified a legislator who could vote on the legislation by specifically mentioning a state representative at the time, Rep. Kelliher. It also included the name of the current governor.

One such ad also featured the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., asserting that he would have wanted a statewide vote on gay marriage.

The complaint, which cites Minnesota Independent’s reporting on the ads throughout the election cycle, asks for a penalty of $3,000.

The filing also notes that Prichard and MFC have been dinged for the same thing in the past: “Considering the nature of the scheme and the fact that this is the second time that Mr. Prichard has violated this very statute by failing to disclose lobbyist expenditures associated with urging public action to influence legislative action, we believe that there is clear intent to violate the statute. Mr. Prichard cannot claim that he did not know about the reporting requirements.”

Common Cause also filed a second complaint that alleges that NOM failed to register as a lobbying group in the state.

“[T]he group should have registered with the Campaign Finance Disclosure Board as a principal lobbyist,” the complaint states. “The Campaign Finance Disclosure Board (‘CFDB’) website clearly states that groups that intend to influence legislative action must register with the CFDB.”

It continues:

On May 18, 2010, the Minnesota Independent ran a story on how the National Organization for Marriage and the Minnesota Family Council were coordinating a $200,000 media buy in Minnesota to oppose legislation to “redefine marriage.” In a press release, the National Organization for Marriage “called on elected officials to let the people vote on this critical issue.” This makes it clear that their intent was to influence legislative action.

Common Cause is seeking specific penalties against NOM. It’s urging the board to fine NOM $1,000 and to conduct an audit of NOM’s financial records to ensure that the reporting requirements are satisfied.

The campaign finance board has accepted Minnesota Common Cause’s complaint and is in the process of investigating.

“Minnesota’s lobbyist disclosure laws are designed to shine some sunlight on how special interests attempt to influence decisions at the capitol,” Mike Dean, Executive Director of Common Cause Minnesota, said in a statement. “Both organizations have attempted to operate in the shadows by failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars spent influencing legislators at the capitol.”

The Minnesota Independent raised questions about NOM’s and MFC’s activities in Minnesota last fall, in particular a mailer that attacked openly gay Republican Sen. Paul Koering. He lost reelection in 2010.

Read Common Cause’s complaint alleging failure to register as a lobbyist:

NOM_complaint_FINAL

Read Common Cause’s complaint alleging failure to disclose expenditures:

MFC complaint FINAL2