What? There Are Democratic Independent Advocacy Groups?

The New York Times has suddenly discovered that Democrats have their own independent advocacy groups. After pretending for a couple of weeks that the Swift Boat Vets were the only rogues in town, the Times has not that there is another conservative group that has raised money to counter similar leftist 527's.

The organization, the Progress for America Voter Fund, is the first Republican group to announce that it had raised a substantial amount of money to compete with Democratic-leaning groups that have collected tens of millions of dollars to attack the Bush-Cheney campaign on television.

And then, all the way down, at the bottom of the article, we learn that the Democrats have raised and spent a whole lot more money than Republicans.

Groups that support Democrats are continuing to raise money for advertisements that attack Mr. Bush. Democrats embraced fund-raising through the 527 committees last year and, in contrast to the Republicans, never wavered while the election commission was weighing whether to restrict the committees.

The organizations have drawn on a list of well-known Democrats to lead them. Harold M. Ickes, former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, runs the Media Fund. Steve Rosenthal, former political director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., is in charge of the ground operation for ACT. And Ellen Malcolm, who runs Emily's List, the largest political action committee in the country, raises money for both organizations.

Together, ACT, the Media Fund and another committee that raises money for both gathered almost $62 million through June, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign finance. The groups also have pledges from others, and Mr. Ickes said the total was closer to twice that.

Mr. Ickes said the money raised by the Progress for America Voter Fund is enough to mount a credible campaign in battleground states, depending on the types of advertisements and their schedule. He said Democrats would hold their own.