McCain Backs Reform Foes

Sen. John McCain made ending big political donations a centerpiece of his White House bid. Now vanquished, he is campaigning for several Republicans who oppose his plan and trying to defeat 16 Democrats who support it.

Eight of the 17 congressional candidates McCain has endorsed or campaigned for do not support his legislation to end donations of unregulated "soft money" contributions from individuals, unions and corporations. Two of them, Reps. Clay Shaw of Florida and Jim Rogan of California, actually voted against the House version of his bill.

On the other hand, 16 of 17 Democrats in the races where McCain has intervened support the soft money ban legislation named after the GOP senator and his Democratic co-sponsor, Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.

Two of the McCain-backed GOP challengers, Mark Nielsen in Connecticut and Stewart Greenleaf in Pennsylvania, have endorsed his legislation. Their Democratic incumbents Jim Maloney in Connecticut and Joseph Hoeffel in Pennsylvania voted for the bill.

"Soft money is a major problem," Greenleaf said. "It gets around the campaign limitations. They can spend it unlimitedly."

The only Democratic holdout is Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan. But his McCain-endorsed GOP challenger, Republican National Committee member Chuck Yob, also opposes a soft money ban.

In addition, McCain doesn't even mention the McCain-Feingold bill on the Web site of his new organization, Straight Talk America. The site had highlighted four other issues: taxes, Social Security, education and national security, but the entire section was dropped last week after inquiries from The Associated Press. Spokesman Todd Harris said the Web site was being redone.

For those who have admired McCain for bucking his party on campaign finance, the recent turn of events is a bitter pill.

"I would prefer he would campaign with those Republicans who voted for our bill," said Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., a key sponsor of the House version of McCain's legislation.

"Obviously, he's only going to embrace Republicans, but I would prefer him to embrace those Republicans who courageously took a stand for campaign finance reform," Meehan said.

McCain said in an interview that he is supporting "reformers" even if they don't believe in campaign overhaul.

And he noted his high-profile endorsement last week of Republican Rep. Rick Lazio, who has stepped up to challenge Hillary Rodham Clinton in the New York Senate race. Lazio has voted in favor of McCain's legislation.

Since his presidential bid, McCain has patched up his frayed relations with likely nominee George W. Bush after a bitter primary race. And while he has declined a place on the ticket, many suspect McCain still harbors future presidential ambitions.

In a recent closed-door meeting with Republicans, McCain explained why campaign finance wouldn't be a litmus.

McCain said. "Those are far better people for me to deal with than Democrats on a broad variety of issues because at least I share the same philosophy with these Republican candidates."

Candidates who differ with McCain on the signature issue boast of the celebrity he brought their campaign.

"There's no doubt that the media attention he brought to my campaign was something I could not have achieved on my own," said former state Rep. Greg Becker, the Republican nominee against Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy on Long Island.

Becker said he was concerned that a soft money ban would violate First Amendment free speech. McCarthy voted for the McCain plan in both 1998 and 1999.

McCain also campaigned for GOP nominee Felix Grucci, who is trying to unseat Republican-turned-Democrat Michael Forbes in a key Long Island congressional district.

Grucci opposes McCain's bill. As a Republican, Forbes bucked his party leadership and voted for the McCain plan in 1998. In 1999, as a Democrat, Forbes again voted yes.

"Clearly, John McCain wanted to show the party rank and file that he's a good, staunch defender of the GOP," Forbes said. "He's been somewhat diminished by going out there and campaigning for people who want to kill his campaign finance initiatives."

In Florida, Democratic state Rep. Elaine Bloom, running against Shaw, has sponsored campaign finance legislation in the state legislature and pledged to support McCain's bill in the House.

"To me, it's an amazing thing that he would plan on" campaigning "for a candidate who has demonstrated a lack of support for the issue," Bloom said.

But Shaw said he, too, supports campaign finance reform. In 1998, he unsuccessfully proposed legislation requiring congressional candidates to raise half of their money from within their home states.