Liberal groups set $400M spending target

politico.com — MoveOn and the other groups participating in this week’s “Take Back America” conference are trying like never before to avoid stepping on each others’ toes — and messages — as they gear up for an intense general election battle.

On Tuesday, they presented Election Day 2008 as a historic opportunity thanks to the lessons they’ve learned from past efforts, loosened election rules, an electoral landscape tilted in Democrats’ favor and grass-roots networks that they say rival those mobilized by Republicans in past elections.

Robert Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, which is hosting the conference, floated the possibility of $400 million in combined spending during a telephone interview with Politico after the news conference.

The exact size and shape of the spending remain unclear, though, partly because the Democratic presidential race between Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York is far from settled, and also because the groups behind the plan — and their legal structures — vary widely.

Borosage included in his calculation Rock the Vote and Women Voices-Women Vote, which promote voting by young people and unmarried women, respectively; ACORN, which advocates for expanded housing opportunities; and the National Council of La Raza, which backs Hispanic causes.