Senate May Kill Campaign Finance Reform Bill After Two Years of Effort

As the Senate takes up the controversial campaign finance bill sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), many senators and observers say the measure is likely to fail.

The bill, which has been two years in the making and rewriting, is now minus many of the key provisions that first provoked public outcry and political scrambling.

Bill $25, which is co-sponsored by 30 Democrats, would ban all soft money contributions, those which are given to political parties for "party" activities that do not directly benefit individual candidates.

Another provision, popular with Republicans, would require labor unions to inform their members that they can receive refunds for the porportion of their dues used to make campaign contributions.

Finally, the bill would aim to crack down on so-called "issue advocacy" television advertisements, which critics say highlight an issue built around particular candidates without falling under campaign financing restrictions.

Gone from the bill are provisions to restrict the influence of Political Action Committees (PACs) and a mandate that candidates raise at least 60 percent of their money from their home states.

Republicans will most likely try to introduce an amendment banning all labor union contributions to political campaigns, which raises the ire of Democrats, who benefited from millions of labor dollars in 1996.

McCain said he would not support that amendment, often called a "poison pill" by legislators who rely on union contributions.

However, whether or not certain amendments are added may not affect the future of the bill.

Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry (D), one of the bill's original co-sponsors, told The Crimson that passage is likely to be difficult.

But the pressure to appear to be a supporter of campaign finance reform has "some nervous people scurrying around, trying to reach a compromise,"Kerry said.

That scurrying has included the statement of Senator Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who has said that all 45 members of the Democratic caucus support the reform bill, although his name did not appear on the legislation's list of sponsors.

Four Republicans-Fred D. Thompson of Tennesee, McCain, Susan Collins of Maine and Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter-have indicated their support for the bill in its current form.

President Clinton said he would keep the Senate in session until they considered the bill. However, Republicans have said they find the president's interference tantamount to a deflection of his own campaign finance woes.

Democrats say last week's surprise decision by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to bring the bill to the floor is only Lott's attempt to shift attention from renewed inquiries into Republican campaign finance woes.

If the bill dies, Republicans will have suceeded in bringing the issue to the forefront and killing it on the "high ground" of free speech.

But arguments against the constitionality of such a ban are unfounded, according to Marvin Kalb, director of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. The provision wouldn't stop people from contributing to political parties or campaings, he said.

"[The ban] limits the flow of soft money into the system," he said.

McCain said many politicians are "scared to death" about the ban on soft money because it would force them to raise money in smaller increments and from more donors.

"Both Democrats and Republicans have obstructed [the bill] for reasons each party may feel is fully justified," Kalb said.

"These arguments are made by people who do not want to reform the campaign finance system," he said.

Of course, if enough Republicans can be swayed to pass the bill and it eventually becomes law, that is no guarantee that the system will be reformed.

The bill is both explicit and vague; that is, it calls for a ban on soft money and leaves the rest to judicial interpretation. And whether or not money is removed as the "dominant force," from campaigns, as the bill's co-sponsor Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) enthusiastically wrote in 1995, will remain to be seen.

McCain has raised many contemptuous eyebrows within the Republican party by his vociferous support for finance reform and his drafting of the legislation. But the war hero is extremely popular within his home state of Arizona, notes Kalb, and Republicans would never isolate him from the core of their party.

Still, by aligning with a mostly Democratic coalition to reform the system, he demonstrates the independence that allows him to buck the Republican system on issues like "English-Only laws" (which he opposes).

But McCain's forthright style endears him to most of his collegues, including Kerry, who credits the senator's boldness in leading the campaign reform fight.

McCain made it clear last night he won't give up the fight for meaningful campaign reform if SR25 fails by vote or by legislative procedure today.

"Senator Feingold and I will keep pressing our case even if we fail tomorrow. We will offer a ban on soft money to whatever legislation is next considered by the Senate," he said.