And so it begins: New PAC to attack Hillary from the Left

Stopping Hillary from the left


A newly formed political action committee is aiming to stop Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary by calling into question her progressive credentials.

"We think there are other Democratic presidential candidates who are both more progressive and have a better chance of beating the Republicans than she does," said the president of Democratic Courage, Glenn Hurowitz.

He declined to tip his hand on the group's case against Clinton, but said the PAC plans a paid media campaign in the early primary states to make its position clear.

"We’ll definitely have sufficient resources to make a significant media buy," he said, adding that their campaign against Clinton would be "edgy" enough to get attention. "We don’t need to raise an immense amount of money to make a big difference."

Hurowitz, 29, is a Washington-based writer and activist. (He has written freelance Ideas articles for Politico, including this piece criticizing Clinton's and Obama's energy plans.) The group's two other officers are Sam Goldman and David Lipowicz, both of whom have worked for liberal and environmental groups in Washington.

Hurowitz and Goldman have both contributed to the campaign of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, but Hurowitz said their effort is independent of any campaign.

"We have no plans right now to back any particular candidate," Hurowitz said.

As a federal political action committee, Democratic Courage is raising money only in contributions of $5,000 or less. This allows the group to politick more directly than the independent groups known as 527s, which can raise money in unlimited quantities but which have limits on their direct support for candidates.

Their effort follows a long line of lackluster "Stop Hillary" campaigns on the right, which began before her election to the Senate in 2000, and have largely failed to raise large sums of money or attract widespread attention. But Hurowitz distinguished his group from those.

"I'm definitely not a Hillary hater — I think there are other candidates who are better for the progressive movement," Hurowitz said. "Most of the people involved in our PAC will be happy to support her if she does become the nominee."

A spokesman for Clinton declined to comment on the effort.