Liberty University ads in Iowa featured Gingrich

Recent TV ads run by Liberty University in Iowa were raising questions on the eve of that state’s Republican presidential caucus.

The 30-second commercials feature candidate Newt Gingrich — who’s appeared at LU several times over the years — praising the university.

LU says the ad is a commercial for the school, not Gingrich or his campaign, and is just one part of the university’s larger national marketing strategy.

But other sources suggest the ad’s timing and prominent showcasing of Gingrich was an attempt to boost the former House speaker’s profile in Iowa for the caucus.

The New York Times’ political blog, The Caucus, reported that Gingrich’s cash-strapped campaign was getting an assist from “well-financed allies” in the form of LU and the conservative magazine Newsmax, which aired a 30-minute special about Gingrich over the weekend.

While neither TV spot carried an express endorsement for Gingrich, The Caucus said both had “pro-Gingrich messages” and “appeared intended to help the former House speaker win the caucuses,” which Iowa will hold tonight.

As a tax-exempt institution, LU is barred from campaigning for political candidates. But Mat Staver, dean of LU’s law school, said he’s confident the ad is on sound footing.

“The ad is not designed to endorse Newt or anyone else,” Staver said in an interview Monday. “…We’re not speaking about his positions. We’re not comparing him to another candidate. We’re not promoting his election.”

“In fact, it’s to the contrary,” he said. “Rather than Liberty endorsing Newt Gingrich, Newt Gingrich is speaking favorably about Liberty.”

LU said the commercial was filmed back in October 2010 — before Gingrich declared his candidacy although after he had begun considering a run.

Gingrich gave a public address at LU in October 2010 and held a private meeting with Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. and other conservative and evangelical leaders to discuss the state of the country.

Falwell said at the time that Gingrich would make a “wonderful president,” calling him “exactly what the nation needs at this point in history.”

Staver said the chancellor made a similar comment about Rick Perry when Perry visited the school earlier this year, but he added Falwell has not issued any endorsements in the primary.

“And, of course, the university does not endorse candidates,” Staver said.

Staver said LU has many commercials that run across the country, but only one features Gingrich. The ad was not targeted at Iowa and only aired there for a short time, he said.

The commercial features Gingrich, who is identified only as a former House speaker, commending LU as “one of the preeminent forums to discuss profound issues.”

“It’s the kind of school where somebody who cares about America’s future can learn all the key principles of law, both for their own personal life and their own personal profession, but also as a citizen to be more effective in helping their country,” Gingrich says as images of him at the school flash across the screen, including one of him shaking hands with Falwell Jr. in 2007 when Gingrich delivered LU’s commencement address.

In addition to filming the commercial in 2010, Staver said Gingrich also pre-taped lectures that will be part of a new “American Exceptionalism” program LU will be rolling out next year.

The undergraduate course — which was described as dealing with the founding principles that made America great — was developed in close partnership with Gingrich, who Staver said was “very influential” in crafting the curriculum.

Gingrich is considered a visiting professor at LU, but was not paid for his contributions to the program, Staver said. The collaboration to develop the course has been under way for a couple of years, he added, long before Gingrich was a presidential hopeful.

On Monday, the watchdog group Americans United for Separation of Church and State — a frequent critic of LU’s political activities — said the commercial was “clearly a misuse” of the school’s tax-exempt resources.

“It’s no coincidence these ads are running right before the Iowa caucuses,” said spokesman Joe Conn. “It’s clear this was an attempt to support Gingrich and get people to vote for him … Chancellor Falwell is playing fast and loose with federal tax law.”

Conn said LU was using “backdoor methods” to try to legitimize the ads and added it was “sad” that a Christian school would not aspire to set a better example. “This doesn’t speak very well of the institution,” he said.

Americans United and LU have been frequent combatants. Two years ago, they filed dueling IRS complaints against one another.

The New York Times, in a The Caucus post published last Friday, said these types of ads “raise a host of election law questions and highlight how the loopholes in the law allow politically motivated groups to influence the outcome of the elections.”

In a follow-up post Saturday, the blog said LU’s commercial would typically be considered electioneering, but it passed muster in Iowa due to a “quirk” in federal law that does not recognize caucuses as official elections.

LU may still be in violation of tax laws depending on how the commercial was paid for, according to the report.

Staver rejected the Times’ analysis.

“The article is wrong,” he said. “It jumps to conclusions without really seeing what the ad does.”

In a formal written statement, LU said the Gingrich commercial has been running in multiple markets since it was filmed, including Houston, Miami, Orlando and Philadelphia.

“The decision to produce and air the ad was a marketing decision, not a political one,” said the statement, adding the commercial was meant to highlight that LU had the support of a national figure.

“Liberty University has not and will not endorse any candidate for political office,” it said. “… But Liberty does want to take advantage of Speaker Gingrich’s prominence to maximize the impact of his longstanding endorsement of the University. This is a business decision.”