Straight Talk Steps Out
Sen. John McCain and backers of his campaign finance bill turned up the pressure on Senate leaders for a quick vote Thursday, picking up a key Republican supporter and vowing an all-out press to force early debate on the measure.
McCain, who has fallen short in recent years of the 60 votes needed to break Republican filibusters blocking an overhaul of campaign finance laws, said he was "considering all options" to force the bill to the floor when the Senate - now split 50-50 between the two parties - convenes after President-elect Bush's inauguration on January 20.
The Arizona senator picked up the support on Thursday of Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who said the nation's campaign system has been "overwhelmed" by huge amounts of unregulated cash and he would back efforts to bring the McCain bill to the floor.
"We are almost defenseless under the rules that now exist," Cochran said of the current system, in which independent groups can run unlimited attack ads against candidates. "It seems to me the time is now when we should try to explore a common ground."
Cochran's support puts the coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans who support a broad overhaul of campaign fund-raising laws within one vote of the 60 needed to force direct consideration of the bill, a McCain aide said.
"I believe we have momentum, I believe we have the votes. But I cannot promise you that," McCain told reporters.
Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, an opponent of the measure, has not committed to scheduling a debate on the bill sponsored by McCain and Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold.
A similar measure has been approved by the House twice in recent years, only to die in the Senate.
McCain, who has made his drive for campaign finance reform the centerpiece of his work in the Senate and his unsuccessful presidential bid last year, said it would take weeks before the new Bush administration could begin shipping its legislative agenda to Congress, allowing the Senate plenty of time to take up the issue.
But an early battle over campaign finance would be awkward for Bush, who defeated McCain in a bitter Republican presidential primary battle last spring. Bush has said he supports reform but never endorsed the McCain-Feingold measure, which bans unlimited, unregulated "soft-money" contributions to political parties and restricts issue ads.
Speaking to reporters in Austin on Thursday, Bush refused to comment on whether he would veto the McCain-Feingold bill if it reached his desk, but said "it is very important for us to make sure that the bill is fair and balanced" and one way of doing that would be to include "paycheck protection" language.
"If money is being spent on behalf of somebody who has no voice, I think we ought to get rid of that kind of money," Bush said. "For example, if corporate America is spending money on behalf of a shareholder nd the shareholder has no voice, I think that ought to be banned. So long as the same is applied to labor unions, as well."
McCain said he would not support a "paycheck protection" amendment, which would force unions to get permission from members before using their union dues for political purposes.
Democrats, who rely heavily on the support of labor unions, also have opposed the "paycheck protection" language.
McCain said the same result could be achieved through language in his bill drafted by Republicans Olympia Snowe of Maine and Jim Jeffords of Vermont, which restricts and boosts disclosure of issue ads within 60 days of an election.
Cochran said he would vote to break a filibuster and allow direct consideration of the McCain-Feingold measure, but would try to amend it to strengthen some disclosure requirements. McCain said he would support the amendments.