By Alex Kingsbury
U-WIRE Washington Bureau
April 2, 2001
Following a long and arduous battle, the Senate is posed to vote on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill on Monday — a bill that, if passed, would change more than a quarter century of election funding law.
The bill restricts some forms of political advertisement, bans unrestricted donations of “soft money” from groups to political parties, as well as increasing the amount of “hard money” by individual donors.
“Sponsors of this legislation have but one purpose: to enact fair, bipartisan campaign finance reform that seeks no special advantage for one party or another, but that helps change the public’s widespread belief that politicians have no greater purpose than our own re-election,” said Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.
Calls for reform have come at the heels of numerous campaign funding scandals extending back to Charles Keating, (which also involved Sen. McCain). The recent surge of support for the measure has come with the realization of the staggering amounts of “soft money” that is being poured into the political system. Legislators, who once hedged at the prospect of changing the system that elected them, are now realizing the need for substantive change.
McCain who, despite his defeat by President George W. Bush in the primary, has received extensive media attention for his drive to change the system has led the charge for campaign finance reform.
If the bill passes as expected on Monday it will then go to the House. The president has publicly said that he would oppose the measure should it reach his desk. With a presidential veto unlikely the House may be the last challenge that the bill will face.
The Republican-controlled House leadership is adamantly opposed to the legislation, but face an uphill battle to kill the bill that enjoys support across the aisle. In 1998 and 1999, similar reform bills passed the House by substantial margins.
But McCain, who has publicly pushed for campaign finance reform since his fierce primary battle with President Bush said the House battle will be “no day at the beach.”
Though leaders like Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tx.) and Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) may not be able to kill the bill outright, they may be able to kill it quietly and slowly through a variety of legislative maneuvers. They may try burying the bill in Committee or try to bog down and destroy it through amendments.
The most probable scenario, given the bill’s support, is that a slightly different version of the legislation will be adopted by the House then sent back to the Senate to a House-Senate conference committee.
Designed to resolve differences between the two chambers, the committee is frequently a place where controversial legislation goes to die.
In the Senate, debate over the bill has been fierce.
“I can promise you,” said Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in debate Thursday, “if McCain-Feingold becomes law there won’t be one penny less spent on politics. Not one penny less. In fact a good deal more will be spent on politics.”
With the expected victory on Monday, the real battle for final passage will be fought in the House in upcoming sessions.
“Most Americans believe that we would let this nation pay any price, bear any burden for the sake of securing our own ambitions, no matter how injurious the effect might be to the national interest,” said McCain. “Any voter with a healthy understanding of the flaws of human nature and who notices the vast amounts of money solicited and received by politicians cannot help but believe that we are unduly influenced by our benefactors’ generosity.”
