DeclinetoState
07-14-2008, 01:07 AM
As Barack Obama (http://search.politico.com/results.cfm?subject=Barack+Obama) and John McCain (http://search.politico.com/results.cfm?subject=John+McCain) jockey to claim the reformer's mantle, each has touted his own campaign finance record while impugning that of his opponent, and both have misrepresented aspects of the arcane world of campaign finance to fit their respective claims. It’s not always easy to tell the “new” politics from the old brand without a scorecard.
Here, then, is Politico’s effort to set the record straight on five myths about campaign cash in 2008:
527s are a major factor
The independent groups have not been big players in the race, though they could quickly reshape the landscape — as they did in 2004 — in the four months remaining until Election Day.
Obama, however, has been wielding the threat of the thus-far inconsequential 527s to tarnish McCain’s reform bona fides, rally his own donors and justify his reversal (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11202.html) of a pledge to participate in the public financing system.
“We’ve already seen that [McCain] is not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations,” he said in a video (https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/bignews?source=20080619_PF_ND_G) posted on his website.
Though both candidates have decried the influence of 527s, there’s not a whole lot either can do to rein them in, since campaign finance laws prohibit candidates from coordinating with 527s.
More (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11699.html)
Here, then, is Politico’s effort to set the record straight on five myths about campaign cash in 2008:
527s are a major factor
The independent groups have not been big players in the race, though they could quickly reshape the landscape — as they did in 2004 — in the four months remaining until Election Day.
Obama, however, has been wielding the threat of the thus-far inconsequential 527s to tarnish McCain’s reform bona fides, rally his own donors and justify his reversal (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/11202.html) of a pledge to participate in the public financing system.
“We’ve already seen that [McCain] is not going to stop the smears and attacks from his allies running so-called 527 groups, who will spend millions and millions of dollars in unlimited donations,” he said in a video (https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/bignews?source=20080619_PF_ND_G) posted on his website.
Though both candidates have decried the influence of 527s, there’s not a whole lot either can do to rein them in, since campaign finance laws prohibit candidates from coordinating with 527s.
More (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11699.html)