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The presidential campaign gets down, and possibly dirty

WASHINGTON - Republicans moved to stop pro-Democratic groups from spending millions to defeat President Bush, filing a federal complaint Wednesday that accuses John Kerry's campaign of illegally coordinating its political ads and get-out-the-vote activities with anti-Bush groups.

The GOP complaint reflected the concern among the Bush-Cheney team about the influence of the outside groups, which, combined with Kerry's campaign, nearly have matched the Republicans' ad buying. The complaint to the Federal Election Commission was the first step in a case that could end up in the courts.

"They're making a mockery of what the rules are," Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot said. The GOP cited fundraising solicitations, overlapping strategists and the timing of ads as proof Kerry and the outside Democratic groups were coordinating their efforts. Kerry's campaign dismissed the complaint as political gamesmanship.

In a highly unusual move, the Bush campaign and Republican Party asked the FEC to immediately dismiss the complaint and clear the way for them to take the case to court.

"No penalty, civil or criminal, after the fact could possibly remedy the irreparable harm caused by allowing this illegal activity to continue unabated," the GOP complaint says.

The complaint alleges $1-million-plus donors to the groups such as billionaire George Soros broke the law by knowingly giving soft money to finance presidential election activities. The groups and Soros contend they are operating legally.

The Republican complaint focuses in part on two groups, MoveOn.org and the Media Fund, that have been running ads in March criticizing Bush in several battleground states. Kerry, too, has been airing ads in key states, on a much smaller scale.

"I'd call it slanderous nonsense - the typical Republican politics of intimidation," said Media Fund spokesman Jim Jordan, a former Kerry campaign manager named in the complaint.

MoveOn president Wes Boyd called the charges "baseless and irresponsible."