Campaign Finance Reform Champion Spends Nearly All His Time Boosting His Campaign's Finances: Story from today's Washington Post:

As the Senate debate over immigration raged yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had breakfast, brunch and lunch fundraisers in Houston before heading north to gather money at a supporter's home in Dallas and, later, from young professionals at a gourmet Mexican restaurant.

It's the new McCain: Working furiously to rebound from a lackluster fundraising effort in the first three months of the year, he is forgoing many opportunities for public campaigning and sharply cutting back his role as a high-profile legislator with a knack for brokering deals.

Today's schedule includes a breakfast fundraiser in Fort Worth and a meeting of his national finance team in Washington, followed by a gathering on the rooftop of a downtown law firm with more young professionals.

It all amounts to "an increased focus on fundraising and doing more events," said McCain spokesman Brian Jones. "I think you'll see more of that in June." [...]

The money-raising activity has proved to be something of a zero-sum game, however. On the campaign trail, the intense focus on fundraising has crowded out some of the retail campaigning that was a trademark of his first presidential campaign. The candidate who rode the Straight Talk Express for 71 days and 15,000 miles in 2000 has spent eight days on the bus so far in the 2008 campaign, aides said.

Dennis Prager this week makes the argument that McCain's campaign-finance reform inevitably leads to only rich people running for serious office, because otherwise you have to spend your life raising money. Excerpt:

A few years ago, I considered running for the Senate seat held by Barbara Boxer. Ultimately I decided against it for family reasons and because I thought that having a national radio show enabled me to influence more people than even a Senate seat from California would. But what rendered running untenable was the campaign finance reform ban on individuals giving candidates more than $2,000.

Since no one can run in a California statewide election with less than $40 million and since I have no personal wealth, I would have had to raise tens of millions of dollars from tens of thousands of individuals. My life would have consisted almost solely of asking people for money. I had supporters who could have personally given me millions of dollars, but they are barred from doing so. Wealthy people can only spend such money on themselves, no matter how ill-suited they may be for public office.

That is what campaign finance reform has achieved -- discouraging, if not actually eliminating, non-wealthy Americans from running for office and forcing those who do run to devote their lives to asking for money; while at the same time pushing more and more extremely wealthy incompetents into office.

Since January, McCain has missed half of the Senate's scheduled votes -- 87 -- including all 45 votes held since first-quarter fundraising reports were released April 15 that showed McCain trailing all of the leading candidates in both parties. His absence from backroom negotiations over the immigration bill sparked a heated exchange last week with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), who accused him of "parachuting in" at the last minute.

"[Expletive] you," McCain replied, according to several people who witnessed the exchange.

McCain's famous temper, often bandied about like a campaign trope, is actually more interesting than that. For one thing, it explodes precisely when the accusations hit close to home, and wound McCain's honor. From Faith of My Fathers:

The commandant was neither the first nor the last person to accuse me of being spoiled, implying that my parents had greased my way in the world. Witt had been the first to do so when he derided me for being a captain's son. Later in my career, as I rose through the ranks, some would attribute my advance to my admiral father's benefaction. I suppose it is an accusation that many children of successful parents learn to ignore. I never did, however. I grew red-faced and angry every time some know-it-all told me how easy a life my father had made for me.

Anyway, we were talking about the vagaries of campaign finance. Interesting minor story today in the Honolulu Advertiser. Seems that a couple of years ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding with Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle "to work cooperatively to improve rural home ownership and economic development programs." A real Ron Paul-sounding idea, that. Anyway, the state's Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) then decided to hire a consultancy for $75,000 to get some of that promised money from the USDA. Who did Hawaii hire? Company called StrataVizion. Based in, um, Iowa.

According to DHHL records, principals of the company had "numerous years in governmental affairs, policy planning and working in Washington." And the company had a "demonstrated ability" to work with the USDA.

StrataVizion has excellent Republican Party credentials. David Roederer, its head, is an associate of Terry Nelson, past political director of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign and former executive director of political operations for the Republican National Committee.

Nelson has no interest in StrataVizion, but he and Roederer maintain close ties. Nelson is director of Arizona Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. Roederer heads the McCain campaign in Iowa.

According to records, Roederer coordinated a 2004 meeting in Washington between DHHL and the USDA deputy secretary. DHHL paid Roederer's air fare and hotel bills in D.C.

StrataVizion and Roederer are not registered Washington lobbyists. Roederer said he did not lobby: "We helped the department to prepare its grant applications" and provided other assistance.

The contract said StrataVizion would "formulate draft legislation, develop strategies to assist in introduction of legislation in Congress, provide information, and educate key agency and congressional staff and elected officials as requested."

That sounds like lobbying, but Roederer said the work never progressed that far.

05/23/2007 06:16 AM  |  Comment (3)

Hi! What are you doing down here?