Senate Votes to Counter Wealthy Candidates

Senate Votes to Counter Wealthy Candidates

NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, March 21, 2001

WASHINGTON (UPI) – The Senate amended the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill Tuesday by adding provisions to help candidates compete with challengers who are willing to spend their own fortunes in a campaign.

Mindful of charges that at least three millionaire Democrats bought their seats in the last election, the Senate voted 70-30 to pass an amendment that raises regulated "hard money" contribution limits for a candidate facing a wealthy opponent willing to spend his or her own fortune.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., supported the amendment.

"I do believe that the principles of McCain-Feingold have been preserved here, because this amendment deals with hard money," McCain said just before the vote.

"At least the candidate has a fighting chance," said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. "That is what this amendment is about. … It basically says you can't buy an election."

The amendment, drafted late Monday night by Durbin; Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio; and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., contains a complex formula to ratchet up regulated "hard" money contribution limits in a series of steps for a candidate facing a wealthy competitor who spends beyond preset limits.

Limits would be based on the population of each state. Hard money limits would be raised to $3,000 and then $6,000 depending upon the personal assets of the challenger, and at a final "super rich" level, a candidate's party can pitch in regulated donations as well.

Proponents said the formula is designed to match the limits with the spending power in each state. A "wealthy" opponent is defined differently in Wyoming than in California.

The Senate is familiar with the wealthy-candidate syndrome. Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., won his seat by spending $63.2 million – 95 percent of which was his own money – against Republican challenger Rep. Bob Franks, who spent $4 million, according to Common Cause. Sen. Mark Dayton, D-Minn., spent $11 million of his own money to defeat the Republican incumbent, Sen. Rod Grams. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., used her Internet fortune to squeak past Republican incumbent Sen. Slade Gorton.

But while McCain and Feingold voted for the amendment, opponents of the campaign finance "reform" bill said Tuesday they still did not necessarily support the bill despite the change.

"I still haven't decided," Domenici said.