Soft Money Jungle

One thing is certain about the campaign finance scandals of 2000: They won't be discovered until after the next president is inaugurated in 2001.
That said, we probably know right now where to look for potential mischief – state political parties. "You can move money around in these state parties anyway you want," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21 and dean of campaign finance reformers, "and we won't know until after the election." If then...

States do not have the same rules and regulations about disclosing campaign giving and spending as the feds do; not that the federal laws are so revealing. And in recent years, a loophole has allowed the national political parties to funnel money, unregulated by federal law, into state parties. It's known as "soft money."

The parties, under intense pressure from the press, reformers and the occasional prosecutor, voluntarily tell the world about some of their soft money activities. But it would be foolish to think that all giving and spending by and through state parties ever comes to light.

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For a hint about the scope of this back channel, one can look at Washington state, which has rather good disclosure laws. Through Oct. 20, Washington's Republican Party has raised about $13 million; of that, $11.5 million is soft money sent in from the national party. The Washington state Democratic Party has raised $6.7 million; $5.5 million of that is soft money. Wertheimer's suspicion is that new ways have been found to get money to state party groups beyond soft money.

And once that money is in the hands of a state party, it can do virtually anything that it wishes with the cash: Get out the vote campaigns, direct mail, phone banks, even TV advertising. The money amounts to a slush fund that undermines the whole principle of federal controls on campaign expenditures.

A GOP source told Reality Check that the Republican National Committee alone will raise $225 million by Election Day; they have already raised $218 million. He admits they steer more money on top of this to state parties, not to hide it, he says, but simply o fund their activities.

State parties are just one area ripe for election escapades. There are also the groups making independent expenditures that profess they have nothing to do with organized parties. Who knows? There may be foreign governments trying to spend money on our elections.

There are 83 donors we know of today who have given more than $200,000 to the Republican Party. There are 83 such donors to the Democrats.

That's but one sign that there is no shortage of supply for political capital. And the demand for it is unlimited, insatiable and probably infinite.

Unfortunately, understanding this part of the political economy rarely comes in real time, but more often in hindsight and history.