McCain Disavows Group Trying to Help His Campaign
It seems that a group set up as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation is advertising on behalf of the Senator’s presidential campaign. A 501(c) is allowed gather unlimited sums without naming its donors*, so whenever you hear McCain use the word “disclosure” in this context, he is being a hypocrite.
John McCain created this problem via his advocacy of Campaign Finance “Reform.” He’s being bitten by his own flawed law, which drove money into 501(c)s, and it looks good on him. I’m tempted to send a buck or two to the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America myself, except McCain is the last person in any party for whom I would vote.
Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager, wrote on Monday to donors to Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign, saying: “I hope you will refrain from involving yourself with the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America. While not illegal, this group’s efforts certainly violate the spirit of reform and disclosure for which John McCain has fought over the past decade.”
That spirit being suppression of First Amendment rights in favor of incumbents. McCain thinks those rights require further restriction.
The letter came on the heels of a statement from Mr. McCain in which he said, “I ask all of my donors and supporters, including Mr. Reed [former McCain media strategist and founder of the 501(c) in question], to cease and desist immediately from supporting any independent expenditures that might be construed as benefiting my campaign indirectly.”
He added, “I will not win this election, nor would I want to win it, by acquiescing in anyone’s attempt to put my campaign before my principles.”
Unfortunately, Senator, these ARE your principles. Let us hear more from George Will about McCain-Feingold’s Wealth of Hypocrisy:
Congress is less divided by partisanship than it is united by devotion to the practice of protecting incumbents. Doing this with, for example, the bipartisan embrace of spending “earmarks” is routinely unseemly. But occasionally, incumbent protection is also unconstitutional.
It was in 2002, when Congress was putting the final blemishes on the McCain-Feingold law that regulates and rations political speech by controlling the financing of it. The law’s ostensible purpose is to combat corruption or the appearance thereof. But by restricting the quantity and regulating the content and timing of political speech, the law serves incumbents, who are better known than most challengers, more able to raise money and uniquely able to use aspects of their offices — franked mail, legislative initiatives, C-SPAN, news conferences — for self-promotion.
Not satisfied with such advantages, legislators added to McCain-Feingold the Millionaires’ Amendment to punish wealthy, self-financing opponents. The amendment revealed the cynicism behind campaign regulation’s faux idealism about combating corruption.
Read the whole thing, you’ll be amazed at how the definition of corruption is twisted 180 degress to favor incumbents.
*The Other Club advocates unrestricted political expenditure/donation accompanied by full and immediate disclosure of all donors.