Former Miller-Meeks volunteer behind 2nd District attack ads

The person behind a series of Web ads attacking candidates in the 2nd District Republican congressional primary has finally been revealed. Jeff Patch, a long-time Republican activist and former press secretary for U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, announced Wednesday that he had compiled the information in the ads for a group calling itself “Coalition for Iowa Values.”

Patch has previously volunteered for the campaign of Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The Web ads in question attack two of her rivals, Steve Rathje and Rob Gettemy.

“I want to make clear that I compiled the information for the Coalition’s YouTube project from publicly-available sources. This effort was not coordinated with—nor controlled by—any campaign,” Patch said. “This work has been done on my own time, not through any employer. These web videos are meant to serve as an alternative, innovative way to share political information. They’re meant to enable the grassroots over campaign consultants, allowing interaction and participation by activists—not just top-down messaging over broadcast TV or direct mail.”

The videos slam Rathje and Gettemy on social issues. The first ad uses a clip of Rathje saying he “will not accept abortion under any circumstances — unless it is between the mother and God — and the doctor, period.” The conclusion is that Rathje will not stand opposed to abortion in Congress.

The second ad slams Gettemy for his ties to the founder of GoDaddy.com, showing shots of Gettemy discussing “Iowa values” juxtaposed with clips of GoDaddy.com commercials showing women undressing. They also accuse him of “profiteering on the name of Jesus Christ” with is T-shirt company, IM4JC.com.

Rathje has attacked the videos, releasing a statement calling on Miller-Meeks to “stand against the fake third party groups that have lied and distorted my candidacy.” Patch said if Rathje can’t handle criticism of his campaign by a Republican activist, “how is he planning on dealing with Democrats in Congress?”

“You’re not running for student council, Steve. Man up,” Patch said.

The Coalition for Iowa Values has launched its own blog and is using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and comments on various Iowa blogs to push out its videos. Judith Ingram, press officer with the Federal Elections Commission, said what Patch is doing does not fall under the FEC’s control.

“Internet postings are exempt from the definition of public communication, so they’re not regulated under the Federal Election Campaign Act or FEC regulations,” Ingram said.

Charlie Smithson, director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, said because this is a federal race, it is also outside of his group’s jurisdiction. Even if it were a state campaign, as long as the group continued to truly operate as a “blog” it would not be regulated, Smithson said, so long as it was not owned or controlled by a campaign committee.

“But if you are talking about YouTube advertisements that expressly advocate for or against candidates – that could be a different story,” he said. “Especially since the law now requires a ‘paid for by’ on television, video and motion picture advertising and the ‘paid for by’ has to be viewable for 4 seconds.  So it would depend how the website was set up and who owned or controlled it.”

UPDATE: Patch contacted The Iowa Independent to clarify that he is not currently doing any volunteer work for the Miller-Meeks campaign. He has only done volunteer work for her previous campaigns. The story and headline have been adjusted accordingly.

Below are the ads in question: