OCTOBER 21, 2002

ELECTIONS
Are current candidates heeding future campaign finance reform?

The final days of the Nov. 5 midterm elections offer a rare opportunity to measure how the new federal campaign finance law will change the ground rules under which congressional candidates are now campaigning. The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, though it faces court challenges, becomes law the day after the election. It was the result of more than a decade of grass-roots effort and broad, strong public support. The law bans soft money contributions to national political parties, increases individual hard money contribution limits, leaves PAC contribution limits unchanged and restricts the ability of corporations (including non-profits) and labor unions to run ads that feature the names or likenesses of candidates close to an election.

Are candidates already heeding its spirit? In the federal sphere, two Congressional candidates - Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) and Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) - are declining PAC contributions in their re-election campaigns. Or is it business as usual until the very last minute, despite the public call for change? What practices that are now tipping the scales in specific races will be illegal in the next elections? Reporters can ask: "What will the next election be like when ads like this are illegal? Right now Company X is publicly endorsing Candidate Y. Will that be acceptable under the new law? How will Company X back candidates once the rules change?"

Why it matters
At a time when news coverage is filled with stories of corporate corruption and mistrust of institutions, voters care deeply about campaign finance reform. Gallup polls, for example, found that high percentages of voters support reform - up to 72 percent in February 2001, just before Congress passed the new law. Religious interests continue to exert great influence - both for and against campaign finance reform - on the federal and state level and in lawsuits. Most groups supporting it cite shared values such as equality, fairness, honesty, and integrity that are integral to their faith traditions. Other religious groups oppose reform because they say it violates First Amendment rights.

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National sources

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• Such legal luminaries as C. Boyden Gray, former White House counsel to President Bush and former Whitewater special prosecutor Kenneth Starr are opposed on constitutional grounds to campaign finance reform. The James Madison Center for Free Speech represents plaintiffs including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who are challenging the constitutionality of the new law in federal court. James Bopp Jr. is lead attorney for the plaintiffs and general counsel for the center. Contact 812-232-2434, jboppjr@abcs.com. Contact McConnell, 202-224-2541.
• Melissa Schwartz, media relations director of the Interfaith Alliance Foundation, can talk about how the faith community and reformist organizations collaborate. Contact 202-639-6370, mschwartz@interfaithalliance.org. The alliance offers a guide to faith and campaign finance reform.
• The National Voting Rights Institute is defending campaign finance laws in court. Contact 617-368-9100, nvri@nvri.org.
• John C. Eastman is a national voice who says that campaign finance reform restricts constitutionally protected free speech. Eastman, a Chapman University law school professor and former Supreme Court clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, defeated Irvine, Calif.'s municipal campaign finance ordinance this year in a United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit case. Contact 714-628-2500, jeastman@chapman.
• The American Conservative Union wrote a letter to President Bush in March, urging him to veto the Congressional reform bill because it "criminalizes political speech." Contact communications director Ian Walters at 703-836-8602, iwalters@conservative.org. Those who signed the letter include Andrea Sheldon Lafferty at the Traditional Values Coalition, 202-547-8570; Gary Jarmin of Christian Voice, 703-548-1421; and Roberta Combs of the Christian Coalition, 202-479-6900.
• Read testimony of ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser on March 22, 2000, opposing Campaign Finance Reform Legislation.
• Sister Anne Curtis, a lobbyist for Network, a National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, works for overhaul of the campaign finance system. Contact 202-547-5556, extension 25, acurtis@networklobby.org.
• The Rev. Dr. Jay Lintner organized Religious Leaders for Campaign Finance Reform as a minister of the United Church of Christ. Retired, he continues his work in national religious and campaign reform circles. Contact him through the United Church of Christ Washington, D.C., office, 202-543-1517.
• Rabbi David Saperstein, attorney and campaign finance expert, lobbies Congress and the administration for the national Reform Jewish Movement. Contact 202-387-2800, rac@uahc.org.
• Matt Keller is Legislative Director for Common Cause, a 250,000-member citizens lobbying organization. His goals are reform of presidential public financing, getting free time for candidates on public airwaves, and abolishing the Federal Elections Commission. Contact 202-833-1200 or 800-926-1064, Mkeller@commoncause.org.
• David Magleby, director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, monitors how soft money is used in the states. Contact 801-378-5462, David_magleby@byu.edu.
• The National Institute on Money in State Politics in Helena, Mont., tracks campaign money in state politics. Contact 406-449-2480, institute@statemoney.org.

Background
• Congress tried for several years to enact campaign finance reform but failed. Then, momentum built with the Enron scandal and Congress passed the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also called the Shays-Meehan Bill). President Bush signed the bill March 27. It takes effect Nov. 6 and governs federal races only. Several states and localities have passed or are trying to pass their own laws.
• Read an explanation of the campaign finance law, its provisions and the lawsuits against it at the Brookings Institute's guide to The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and the Constitutional Challenge.
• The American Center for Law and Justice filed a suit challenging the new law on behalf of a minister and six teenagers.
• The Almanac of Policy Issues gives a succinct summary of the law.
• According to Public Campaign, it's an American political first: A majority of candidates for state office in Arizona and Maine are financing their campaigns this season solely with public funds. In Maine, 62 percent of candidates (231 of 372) are participating in that state's Clean Elections system, which offers candidates the option of full public financing in exchange for limiting their spending and rejecting private donations. In Arizona, 53 percent of candidates (84 out of 158) are running "clean." Public Campaign lists contacts in every state working to institute campaign finance reform.
• The University of Utah Campaign and Media Program about-university-conferences.html is sponsoring a January conference on how the new campaign finance law will affect elections and how it would have affected current midterm elections, had it applied. Contact Campaign and Media Law Center, 202-736-2200, info@camlc.org.
• Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), longtime champion of campaign finance reform, charges that the Federal Election Commission is gutting the new law, basically writing regulations which will allow the soft money to flow. Contact Rebecca Hanks in McCain's Washington office 202-224-2182.
• OpenSecrets.org lets you to look up details of campaign finance in a variety of ways - by zip code (compared with other zips in your state); by congressional office holder, with contributor funds identified by PAC; and by individual donor, business or labor organization. You can also find where an individual donor's or PAC's contributions went.
• This year gubernatorial candidates have poured at least $200 million into TV campaign ads - and it's paying off, says Stateline.org. The candidate who buys the most TV time wins most of the time, according to data compiled by the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which studies campaign spending and advertising. Stateline.org also offers a list of Web links on campaign finance for reporters.