Why Political Ads In 2012 May All Look Alike

Among the biggest advertisers in the presidential campaign is a group that says it doesn’t do political advertising: Crossroads GPS.

Crossroads GPS — which stands for Grassroots Policy Strategies — was co-founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove. It and others like it enable wealthy donors to finance attack ads while avoiding the public identification they would face if they gave to more overtly political committees.

There’s supposed to be a difference between a candidate’s ads that are financed by relatively small and disclosed money, and the big-budget, secretly funded ads from outside groups.