VulgarTheClown
04-23-2003, 01:12 AM
Alex Schraff is my frat brother
FAU student's media campaign ruffles
the feathers of state Republican
leaders
BY JIM ASH
Palm Beach Post
A 21-year-old Florida Atlantic
University student who is leading a
sophisticated media campaign against
House leaders is learning that swimming
with the big fishes isn't always easy.
Alex Schraff, a senior majoring in
international economics, launched a
phone-bank, radio and Internet campaign
earlier this week, accusing some of the
state's highest-ranking Republicans of
devastating student financial aid while
preserving their own pork-barrel
spending.
He has kept his political speech
inflammatory and his donors secret --
drawing a full-court press by the media
to find his money source and some
ominous responses from House Republican
leaders.
But Schraff is refusing to budge on
either count.
''I'm not going to put my donors through
the same gantlet that I have been put
through,'' he said.
``These are concerned parents and
students. They are giving because they
believe in the cause.''
By forming a nonprofit group called Keep
Your Promises, Schraff is using a
loophole in campaign finance laws that
allows him to shield his contributors
and his fundraising activity.
The group has spent thousands of dollars
on a Naples-based telephone bank that
has targeted the districts of House
Republican leaders with acid-tongued
messages.
An Internet site, wwwkeepyourpromise.org
, provides links to House Speaker
Johnnie Byrd and other House leaders,
and it urges people to oppose House
leadership proposals such as cutting
Bright Futures scholarships,
circumventing the reduced class-size
amendment and eliminating trust funds.
The group's radio ads have peppered the
AM airwaves of South Florida.
''They're at it again. Politicians in
Tallahassee, robbing millions of our
tax dollars to fund their pet projects,
just like they did with the lottery,''
goes one advertisement. 'They're
breaking their word again. Looting trust
funds that we set up to keep the
politicians' hands off our money.
They're out of control and must be
stopped.''
The campaign quickly caught the
attention of House Majority Leader
Marco Rubio, R-Miami, targeted by the
ads. Rubio's chief of staff called the
executive director of the Florida
Student Association into his office in
Tallahassee last week and asked for
some background on Schraff.
Schraff said the intent was to
intimidate.
FSA Executive Director Scott Ross said
he doesn't remember it that way.
''It was not intimidating,'' Ross said.
``They just wanted to know about this
group and I told them I had no idea.''
Rubio denies trying to intimidate
Schraff, but admitted that on the same
day he persuaded two Spanish-language
radio stations in his district,
WAQI-710 AM and WQBA-1140 AM, to pull
the ads. He said they were illegal
because they targeted him personally.
''It's an independent expenditure,''
Rubio said. ``I'm a registered
candidate. If they want to accuse me of
something by name, they have to form a
political action committee or a
committee of continuing existence.''
Rubio doesn't know who is backing
Schraff, but he suspects Sen. Ken
Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, or other
members of the Senate.
''Isn't it curious that they are only
targeting the House?'' Rubio asked.
Pruitt has previously denied involvement
with Schraff's campaign.
Schraff, a registered Democrat from
Parkland who now lives on campus in
Boca Raton, also said Pruitt was not
involved.
The media campaign will continue until
the end of the legislative session,
Schraff vowed.
After that and a stint as the editor of
FAU's student newspaper, he plans to
pursue a law career.
''Law is a lot different,'' Schraff
said. ``Whatever makes good law makes
bad politics. Whatever makes good
politics makes bad law.''
FAU student's media campaign ruffles
the feathers of state Republican
leaders
BY JIM ASH
Palm Beach Post
A 21-year-old Florida Atlantic
University student who is leading a
sophisticated media campaign against
House leaders is learning that swimming
with the big fishes isn't always easy.
Alex Schraff, a senior majoring in
international economics, launched a
phone-bank, radio and Internet campaign
earlier this week, accusing some of the
state's highest-ranking Republicans of
devastating student financial aid while
preserving their own pork-barrel
spending.
He has kept his political speech
inflammatory and his donors secret --
drawing a full-court press by the media
to find his money source and some
ominous responses from House Republican
leaders.
But Schraff is refusing to budge on
either count.
''I'm not going to put my donors through
the same gantlet that I have been put
through,'' he said.
``These are concerned parents and
students. They are giving because they
believe in the cause.''
By forming a nonprofit group called Keep
Your Promises, Schraff is using a
loophole in campaign finance laws that
allows him to shield his contributors
and his fundraising activity.
The group has spent thousands of dollars
on a Naples-based telephone bank that
has targeted the districts of House
Republican leaders with acid-tongued
messages.
An Internet site, wwwkeepyourpromise.org
, provides links to House Speaker
Johnnie Byrd and other House leaders,
and it urges people to oppose House
leadership proposals such as cutting
Bright Futures scholarships,
circumventing the reduced class-size
amendment and eliminating trust funds.
The group's radio ads have peppered the
AM airwaves of South Florida.
''They're at it again. Politicians in
Tallahassee, robbing millions of our
tax dollars to fund their pet projects,
just like they did with the lottery,''
goes one advertisement. 'They're
breaking their word again. Looting trust
funds that we set up to keep the
politicians' hands off our money.
They're out of control and must be
stopped.''
The campaign quickly caught the
attention of House Majority Leader
Marco Rubio, R-Miami, targeted by the
ads. Rubio's chief of staff called the
executive director of the Florida
Student Association into his office in
Tallahassee last week and asked for
some background on Schraff.
Schraff said the intent was to
intimidate.
FSA Executive Director Scott Ross said
he doesn't remember it that way.
''It was not intimidating,'' Ross said.
``They just wanted to know about this
group and I told them I had no idea.''
Rubio denies trying to intimidate
Schraff, but admitted that on the same
day he persuaded two Spanish-language
radio stations in his district,
WAQI-710 AM and WQBA-1140 AM, to pull
the ads. He said they were illegal
because they targeted him personally.
''It's an independent expenditure,''
Rubio said. ``I'm a registered
candidate. If they want to accuse me of
something by name, they have to form a
political action committee or a
committee of continuing existence.''
Rubio doesn't know who is backing
Schraff, but he suspects Sen. Ken
Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, or other
members of the Senate.
''Isn't it curious that they are only
targeting the House?'' Rubio asked.
Pruitt has previously denied involvement
with Schraff's campaign.
Schraff, a registered Democrat from
Parkland who now lives on campus in
Boca Raton, also said Pruitt was not
involved.
The media campaign will continue until
the end of the legislative session,
Schraff vowed.
After that and a stint as the editor of
FAU's student newspaper, he plans to
pursue a law career.
''Law is a lot different,'' Schraff
said. ``Whatever makes good law makes
bad politics. Whatever makes good
politics makes bad law.''