Chamber becomes strong political force

August 22, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

At times subtle, at times loud, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending record amounts on lobbying and in election battlegrounds, elbowing into the nation’s politics in unprecedented ways for the business community.

The country’s largest business lobby has pledged to spend $75 million in this year’s elections. That’s on top of a lobbying effort that already has cost the organization nearly $190 million since Barack Obama became president in January 2009.

Those numbers alone, together with what chamber officials say is a network of online backers that can amplify the pro-business message, give the group clout as a virtual third party and a powerful voice in what laws are made and who’s elected to write them.

“Elections have consequences; votes matter,” said Bill Miller, the chamber’s political director. “And we’re going to go out and engage in an effort to try and ensure we have people on Capitol Hill that will listen to our arguments and propose and promote ideas that are more supportive of the free-enterprise system.”

In its dual lobbying- politicking roles, the chamber has been a visible player in congressional debates, fighting Obama initiatives on health care, financial regulations and energy policy. It’s weighed in on Senate contests, spending more than $4 million so far in Massachusetts, Arkansas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio. It’s endorsed Republican Senate candidates in Florida, California and Missouri, and it plans another wave of ads around Labor Day.

This expanded entry into politics comes as legal restraints on the political activities of corporations and unions are eased.

A group of independent organizations is raising big bucks to help the GOP. Their efforts led Obama, in his radio and Internet address Saturday, to decry the “flood of attack ads run by shadowy groups with harmless-sounding names.”