http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/us/politics/12donate.html?_r=1&pagewanted=printThe American Future Fund, a conservative organization based in Iowa, has been one of the more active players in this fall’s campaigns, spending millions of dollars on ads attacking Democrats across the country. It has not hesitated to take credit for its attacks, issuing press releases with headlines like “AFF Launches TV Ads in 13 States Targeting Liberal Politicians.”
Like many of the other groups with anodyne names engaged in the battle to control Congress, it does not have to identify its donors, keeping them — and their possible motivations — shrouded from the public.
But interviews found that the group was started with seed money from at least one influential Iowa businessman: Bruce Rastetter, a co-founder and the chief executive of one of the nation’s larger ethanol companies, Hawkeye Energy Holdings, and a rising force in state Republican politics. And hints of a possible agenda emerge from a look at the politicians on the American Future Fund’s hit list. Most have seats on a handful of legislative committees with a direct say in the ethanol industry.
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One target, Representative Bruce Braley, Democrat of Iowa, a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, noted the pattern of the attacks and said, “Iowans and the American people are pretty smart, and I think they can put things like that together.” Yet Mr. Braley said he was at a loss over his place on the list. For instance, he views himself as having a strong record with the ethanol industry.
Last Friday, he said, he sought answers at the American Future Fund’s official address, but found only a rented mailbox. “We did not find anyone working at their office,” he said, “though I did have a nice conversation with a woman named Kathy who was working at the UPS store.”
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