Is Whalen appearing in ads for his business a campaign violation?

Television advertisements for the Iowa Machine Shed restaurant have become an issue in Iowa’s 1st District congressional campaign.

Two Republicans running for the party’s nomination have raised questions about the ads, noting the third GOP candidate in the race, Mike Whalen of Bettendorf, is featured prominently in them. Whalen is chief executive of Heart of America Restaurants Inc., which owns the Machine Shed restaurants.

Brian Kennedy, a Bettendorf lawyer and former chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, says the advertisements raise questions about whether corporate assets are being used to further Whalen’s congressional campaign.

Kennedy said he’s seen the ads in the Quad-Cities but also has been told ads have run in Dubuque and Waterloo, where there are no Machine Shed restaurants. The 1st congressional district includes those cities.
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His congressional Web site features the restaurant and a glossy brochure is titled, “Yes to Pork Chops, No to Pork Barrel.” But Whalen said Friday there has been no coordination between his company and his campaign, and he rejected any accusations of impropriety.

“We have a pretty large company and I don’t micromanage the marketing,” he said, adding that, if anything, advertising spending is at lower levels than it’s been historically. The most recent ad that’s run in which he was featured was produced in 2002, he said.

Whalen, who for years has been the principal pitchman for the company, said he didn’t know whether ads had run in Waterloo or Dubuque but added it wasn’t inconceivable because the company advertises regionally on occasion.

He attributed the flap to Kennedy trying to gain traction in the race. Kennedy is trailing Whalen and Dix in fundraising. He added he doesn’t plan to ask the company to change its advertising strategy.

“I don’t micromanage now and I won’t in the future,” Whalen said.

Dix and Kennedy said they have not filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, and Kennedy said he has no intention to do so.

However, a legal opinion from a Virginia law firm, provided via Kennedy’s campaign, stated the advertisements constitute an impermissible corporate contribution. It noted the ads are being paid for and designed by the candidate’s own company. Kennedy said his campaign did not request the opinion but a friend did.

Well? What's your opinion? Is Whalen in violation of campaign regulations? Should he stop the ads? Or is this much ado about nothing?