Subject: [big campaign] Opening salvo: McCain's no reformer
From: David Donnelly <[email-masked]>
To: 'big campaign' <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 13:55:01 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Friends,

We¹re launching a campaign to hold McCain accountable for opposing real
reform and doing favors for his donors and the lobbyists running his
campaign. (I¹m sure it doesn¹t come as a surprise to you.)

An opening salvo in our campaign comes via the Boston Globe's Susan Milligan
<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/03/30/mccains_commitment_to
_public_financing_questioned/>  today -- key graph (full story posted
below):

> "McCain, who angered conservatives when he coauthored a bipartisan law aimed
> at taking big money out of politics, in 2003 cosponsored legislation to expand
> the federal matching system to help fund presidential campaigns, but failed to
> add his name to similar measures in 2006 and 2007. And while McCain once
> supported a law in his home state of Arizona providing full public financing
> of campaigns, he now says he opposes that idea at the federal level."
> (emphasis added)

As opposed to the last few months when we¹ve shied away from media coverage,
we're not going to sit on the sidelines anymore. I should note, though, that
the research for the entire piece below comes out of my office ‹ kudos to
the researchers there.

Also, just so you know, my quote is tame compared to what we'll be saying in
the coming days, weeks, and months.

> "It's a legitimate question to ask the reformer, John McCain, why hasn't he
> made public financing the policy he will pursue if he becomes president?"

Tomorrow we¹re sending an email out to our list (approximately 140k) to urge
that they sign on to a letter to McCain. We¹ll deliver that later. We¹ll
also be working with ³beat² reporters to drive these themes this week and
beyond.

More tomorrow --

David

McCain's commitment to public financing questioned
Senator's view has changed, advocates say
By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff  |  March 30, 2008

WASHINGTON - Senator John McCain has retreated from his longtime commitment
to public financing of campaigns since he started planning his 2008 bid for
the presidency, according to nonpartisan advocates who had hoped McCain
would be a strong voice for reform during the most expensive presidential
campaign in history.

McCain, who angered conservatives when he coauthored a bipartisan law aimed
at taking big money out of politics, in 2003 cosponsored legislation to
expand the federal matching system to help fund presidential campaigns, but
failed to add his name to similar measures in 2006 and 2007. And while
McCain once supported a law in his home state of Arizona providing full
public financing of campaigns, he now says he opposes that idea at the
federal level.

McCain's campaign said the presumptive Republican nominee, who completed a
fund-raising swing through western states Friday, has "a clear and long
record" of supporting campaign finance reform, and has not recently
advocated an expansion of public financing because it would be inappropriate
for him to take a lead role in increasing funding for a program from which
he could benefit.

But campaign finance reform advocates say they are distressed at what they
see as McCain's abandonment of the issue at a time when supporters of reform
most need bipartisan backing of efforts to control the influence of money in
campaigns.

"Clearly, McCain has worked hard for a number of reforms, most notably BCRA"
- the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that bans big-money donations by labor
unions, corporations, and wealthy individuals, said Arn Pearson, vice
president for programs at Common Cause, an advocacy group. But "since he's
decided to be a presidential candidate, he has backed off on taking public
positions on those issues," imperiling reform efforts on Capitol Hill,
Pearson said.

David Donnelly, national campaigns director for the Public Campaign Action
Fund, added, "It's a legitimate question to ask the reformer, John McCain,
why hasn't he made public financing the policy he will pursue if he becomes
president?"

McCain is a hero to many campaign finance reform advocates, but has come
under criticism recently for his wavering on accepting public financing this
year. During the Republican primaries, McCain took out a $4 million line of
credit for his then-flagging campaign, using the promise of federal matching
funds as collateral. But after his candidacy rebounded, he never actually
accepted the federal funds, allowing him to raise and spend more private
money.

Both Democratic contenders, who have vastly out-raised McCain so far, have
declined federal matching funds for the primaries. Senator Hillary Clinton
has said she will not accept public funds for the general election. Senator
Barack Obama, who earlier pledged to accept public financing for the fall
campaign if the Republican nominee did, has been less clear, saying he would
negotiate with McCain in deciding whether to accept the money and spending
limits of the federal matching funds system. It would provide about $85
million to each major-party candidate, but would bar them from raising
private money.

Several advocates of campaign finance reform were reluctant to speak
publicly about McCain, noting that they strive to stay out of electoral
politics and do not endorse candidates. But they echoed Democratic
speculation that McCain, who ran unsuccessfully as a maverick Republican
candidate in 2000, may be distancing himself from controversial reform
issues to placate the conservative wing of his party.

"It's real clear that he's running as fast as he can, as hard as he can,
from the campaign finance issue to appease conservatives," said Peter Fenn,
a Democratic consultant not affiliated with a presidential candidate.

Campaign finance specialists point to an evolution in McCain's support for
both the federal presidential matching fund program and for broader public
financing of campaigns. In 1988, McCain spoke against public financing of
campaigns, and wondered aloud during a floor debate on campaign finance
reform how much taxpayer money was wasted on subsidizing losing presidential
bids.

In 1995, McCain voted to eliminate the public financing system that gives
matching funds to presidential campaigns. But by 2003, McCain, having won
presidential approval the year before of his sweeping campaign finance
reform bill, was supportive of the public matching funds system, and
co-sponsored a bill to fix the program.

The measure, backed by nonpartisan reform advocates, would increase the
federal match for presidential candidates and reward contenders who attract
small donations. The bill would also tighten the eligibility threshold for
presidential candidates, an effort to keep federal dollars from going to
"fringe" candidates.

But in 2006 and 2007, McCain declined to cosponsor similar bills. Obama was
an original cosponsor of the recent bill, and Clinton later added her name
as one of seven cosponsors as of late January. The current version, which
was introduced in December, has stalled in Congress with no hearings or
votes scheduled.

Brooke Buchanan, a McCain spokeswoman, said the Arizona senator "supports in
general the concept of a matching fund financing system for the presidency,
but believes the current system - in place since 1976 - is outdated and
needs to be updated and reformed." He did not cosponsor the most recent
bills, she said, because he "was actively contemplating and/or seeking the
nomination of his party and was viewed as a potential recipient of matching
funds."

McCain has also been very supportive of a 1998 Arizona law providing broad
public financing of state campaigns. He did a public service announcement in
2002 for the law, and the same year told PBS host Bill Moyers that the law
"absolutely" could become a model for the nation as a whole.But in 2007,
McCain declined to add his name to a bill, modeled after the Arizona law, to
fund congressional campaigns. Further, he told an interviewer last year, in
a New Hampshire exchange captured on YouTube, that he would not back a
federal public financing law based on the Arizona plan.

Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign, a citizens advocacy group, said
reformers were baffled by McCain's failure to take a lead role in pushing
the recent campaign finance bills in Congress.

"He's been a strong supporter" of such laws in the past, but right now, he's
not extending that support to the federal level. I would leave it to his
campaign to give an explanation for that," Nyhart said.

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