A high-powered political briefing yesterday at Karl Rove's Northwest D.C. home (which doubles as his office) was attended by about two dozen big name Republican consultants, fundraisers and operatives. They're fast ramping up three separate groups that intend to spend tens of millions each on ads and get out the vote drives to help scores of GOP Senate and House members in the mid-term elections.

The electoral outlook on key races was sketched out by Rove and former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, both of whom have already raised millions for a new "527" group called American Crossroads. The luncheon briefing drew such key players as former Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., and Fred Malek, respectively, the chief executive and the chairman of the American Action Network, a new 501 (c3) and (c4) which plans to do direct advocacy ads this year for candidates and is trying to raise $25 million. Also in attendance was Bill Miller, the political director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which expects to attract $50 million for its issue ad drives this year; and Steven Law, the newly installed president of American Crossroads which hopes to raise $60 million for its political efforts (and has pledges for almost $30 million so far). Law was the chamber's general counsel until a few weeks ago.

The meeting also featured a legal briefing for the three groups about the dos -- and don'ts -- of coordination and the rules for mounting direct advocacy campaigns in light of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision and other recent court cases. In general, these outside groups can share certain kinds of information about races to maximize their resources and clout, but can't coordinate with any of the GOP party committees or individual campaigns. In a small sign of solidarity (and efficiency), two of the groups--American Crossroads and American Action Network--have this month moved into adjacent offices at 1401 New York Ave. N.W.