Newsflash: Party Committee Seeks More Money

The Republican National Committee, leader of a team that was swamped by President-elect Obama and the Democrats in the money race this year, is after new financial opportunities. It's taking the legal route, filing two lawsuits to challenge provisions of current campaign finance law.

Not that the RNC has ever championed campaign finance reform, but one challenge aims at the biggest legislative achievement of Sen. John McCain. The RNC wants to cut a big hole in the soft-money ban -- the core provision of the McCain-Feingold law, aka the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Nine days ago, McCain was the party's presidential nominee and BFF.

Both of the provisions targeted by the RNC have been upheld by the Supreme Court. But two justices are new since then. And the RNC's lawyer, Jim Bopp, stands as America's most successful plaintiffs' lawyer in campaign finance cases.

RNC Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan said in a press call that they're not attacking the anti-corruption goals of campaign finance law. "If there's corruption in politics, we believe that our transparency highlights the corruption and we have a very accountable system," he said.

The McCain-Feingold provision in question prevents the national party committees from raising soft money -- unregulated, six- and seven-figure contributions from corporations, unions and the wealthy. Before Congress passed McCain-Feingold in 2002, party leaders and lawmakers waged an ever more feverish pursuit of soft-money donors. Since then, the party committees can't accept more than $28,500 per year from anyone, and nothing from unions or corporations.

More... maybe more than you want to know... after the jump.

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6:38 PM ET | 11-13-2008 | permalink

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Obama Leads the Money Race in GOP Utah

Utah Republicans often say they live in the most Republican state in the country. No Democrat holds statewide office and the Democratic caucus in the state Senate is so small it could meet in a minivan.

But when it comes to money, Utahns are spending more on Democrat Barack Obama than on Republican John McCain.

A Salt Lake Tribune analysis of the state's campaign contributions shows that Obama raised $1.672 million in Utah through October 15. That tops McCain's Utah take of $1.664 million.

The Tribune also found that "Obama has outraised McCain in Utah by nearly 7-to-1 since the start of September." That was Obama's biggest fundraising month by far. It's also the period when McCain stopped taking private funds and started using public funds. Tapping federal campaign funding shuts off direct private contributions. The Tribune's campaign fundraising calculations also include indirect contributions made to accounts used by party committees to support the candidates.

McCain is supported by Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and a host of state leaders, but most Utahns are Mormons and most favored fellow Mormon Mitt Romney. Some blame McCain for Romney's primary departure. McCain was also the Senate's most vocal critic of federal spending on the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Romney led the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee. And as chairman of the Commerce Committee, McCain held Senate hearings into the bidding scandal that brought shame to the Salt Lake Games.

Like all red states, Utah has its concentrations of blue. Obama's biggest bucks come from Salt Lake City, a Utah haven for Democrats, and the ski resort community of Park City, where Hollywood stars, producers and directors have second homes, along with wealthy skiing liberals from all over the country.

Obama's surprising success in Utah has state party leaders dreaming of earth-shattering change. But they should consider favorite son Romney and his fundraising prowess in the state. Romney raised $5.5 million through last February, more than the two nominees combined. And the money didn't stop flowing after Romney dropped out of the race. The Tribune analysis shows that Utahns have sent another $243,000 in contributions since then for Romney's Free and Strong America political action committee.

-- Howard Berkes

12:25 PM ET | 10-28-2008 | permalink

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GOP Operative Reimbursed For Palin's VP Wardrobe

Are those donkeys?

Max Whittaker, Getty Images

 

The Caucus and Joshua Green follow up on this morning's Politico story about Sarah Palin's $150k wardrobe budget from the RNC. Based on the financial disclosure forms, it appears that the initial outfit outlay came from famed Republican operative and robocall expert Jeff Larson. The Atlantic has the documentation here.
(Larson is known for masterminding anti-McCain calls in South Carolina in 2000, and more recently for leasing his basement to MN Senator Norm Coleman for below-market rent...which Coleman didn't always pay on time.)

We suspect that Larson was more wallet than personal shopper for Palin's purchases. But based on the scarf in the photo above (taken yesterday at a rally in Reno, NV), we wonder if the stylist who did pick the new clothes has a sneaky sense of humor or just doesn't know anything about political mascots?

-- Evie Stone

h/t Jezebel

UPDATE: Are the clothes considered taxable income for Palin?

4:13 PM ET | 10-22-2008 | permalink

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Another Money Pot To Fill

You might think Barack Obama has already won the money race, after he raised $153 million just last month. But as Matthew Mosk and Sarah Cohen spotlight in today's Washington Post (following Lynn Sweet's report on the group last week), the DNC has thoughtfully set up another channel for big donors to make more big donations. And as Mosk and Cohen point out, big donations can create big connections to an incoming administration.

The new vehicle is the Committee for Change. It joins the Obama Victory Fund and the Democratic White House Victory Fund as pots where big donors can keep on giving. The idea is that you can legally give $2,300 to the Obama campaign, plus tens of thousands more to each of the three funds. Those dollars don't go directly to Obama For America; rather, the Democratic National Committee deploys the money to support the campaign committee.

-- Peter Overby

9:07 AM ET | 10-22-2008 | permalink

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Small Donor Transparency

Obama raised $150 million last month but has not disclosed the names of small donors -- those who donated less than $200. Legally speaking, he doesn't have to offer the names. But it doesn't exactly make him look like the paragon of transparency.

McCain and the GOP are aiming to highlight his reluctance to release this information with a new online search tool of all who've made small donations to McCain's campaign since he became the presumptive Republican nominee.

-- Thomas Pierce

9:35 AM ET | 10-21-2008 | permalink

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Rudy Carpes the Diem, Dems Cry Foul

The New York Daily News reports that onetime candidate for President of Florida (TM Ken Rudin) Rudy Giuliani is setting himself up to make a killing off the potential federal bailout of Wall Street

Even as the nation's $700 billion, taxpayer-funded Wall Street bailout was still being hashed out, the former mayor announced Thursday his high-powered law firm has set up a task force.

Its mission: to help corporate clients get a piece of the action - or keep the federal wolves from the door.

"Our team of former government officials and experienced attorneys in the fields of legislation, enforcement and finance are equipped to guide institutions in this quickly evolving and complex environment," Giuliani noted in a press release from his law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani.

Giuliani is not the only one poised to profit from opportunities created by the mega-meltdown, but he is the most politically famous.

Giuliani is a prime surrogate for Republican McCain, who has called the economic meltdown "the greatest crisis since the end of World War II" and has assailed Wall Street for "unbridled greed."

The move has ginned up scathing criticism from Democrats -- a DNC spokesman is quoted accusing Giuliani of "crass opportunism" and saying the former mayor is trying to "cash in" on the crisis. In response, RNC officials called the Dems' criticisms "hypocritical and ridiculous."

Now, it was certainly indiscreet of the RNC keynote speaker to get so aggressively entrepreneurial in the midst of a huge economic crisis, especially as his ally John McCain is in the final weeks of his presidential campaign. And there's a real PR stickiness to publicly raking in the chips when so many people face financial ruin. But on the other hand, hey, this is capitalism! As Mom is fond of saying, it's an ill wind that blows nobody good. So...props to Rudy Giuliani for figuring out a personal upside to this mess, we guess?

-- Evie Stone

3:08 PM ET | 09-26-2008 | permalink

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Palin Given Extra Time

Our colleagues at the Anchorage Daily News (via the AP) are reporting that Governor Sarah Palin has been given an extension for submitting her personal financial records. She will now release them on October 3 -- the day after the VP debate. The general counsel for the McCain campaign said, given the fact that Palin has never run for federal office, she needs extra time to pull together the relevant documents.

As the article points out, federal law requires that presidential, vice presidential and congressional candidates file ethics reports detailing their assets and liabilities, including income, investment real estate, stocks, and debt.

The ADN notes that last year, Palin earned $125,000 as governor. Her husband took in $46,790 as a part-time oil production operator, $46,265 from commercial salmon fishing, and $10,500 in Iron Dog snow machine race winnings.

-- Sean Bowditch

5:18 PM ET | 09-25-2008 | permalink

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From Obama in 2001, A Garden To Nowhere?

The Illinois attorney general is investigating the fate of a $100,000 grant that Barack Obama, then a state senator, awarded to a neighborhood group back in 2001. The money was meant to pay for a botanic garden in Englewood, a neighborhood of Chicago.

If you guessed by now that the garden never blossomed, you're right. The Chicago Sun-Times broke the story this morning.

According to the Sun-Times, $65,000 from the grant went to the wife of the head of the Chicago Better Housing Association -- a man who had volunteered on Obama's unsuccessful House campaign in 2000. The paper says another $25,000 went to a construction firm set up by the man's wife.

The story cites a spokeswoman for the attorney general, saying that the probe is focused on the the housing association's tax status and use of the money, not on Obama's role in awarding the grant.

-- Peter Overby

12:20 PM ET | 09-25-2008 | permalink

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Candidates Fund-raise for Hurricane Relief

First Lady Laura Bush and Potential First Lady Cindy McCain appeared together at the abbreviated RNC opener this afternoon to plug the fundraising effort for victims of Hurricane Gustav.

Due to fears about impropriety amid a natural disaster, this afternoon's proceedings eschewed fanfare and partisan grandstanding in favor of staid calls to help our neighbors. (Well, there was some lower taxes/shrink the government/drill more material during the platform approval, but I didn't hear Barack Obama's name mentioned once.)

The McCain folks have created their own site, causegreater.com, to direct contributors to disaster-relief websites recommended by the five gulf-state governors. Four of the govs -- Rick Perry of Texas, Bob Riley of Alabama, Charlie Crist of Florida, and Haley Barbour of Mississippi -- appeared in a video talking about the success of the Gustav efforts so far. The presentation marked a distinct difference from the Katrina aftermath in 2005, when the local, state, and federal governments bickered over responsibility for the humanitarian crisis and all three received a public-opinion drubbing.

Barack Obama is also calling on his supporters to donate money to Gustav victims. This afternoon his campaign sent an email (also posted to his blog) encouraging $5 donations to the American Red Cross via the Obama campaign website.

-- Evie Stone

5:59 PM ET | 09- 1-2008 | permalink

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Who Concocts These Attack Ads, Anyway?

Always a good question in an election year, and over at the Secret Money Project, our colleague Will Evans traces the couldn't-make-it-up origins of one such ad: the Coalition Against Anti-Christian Rhetoric's spot from last June.

With its suggestions that Obama was a closet Muslim, it was the first truly inflammatory ad of the '08 campaign.

But it wasn't cooked up by high-priced DC consultants. The ad went on the air -- and into the blogosphere -- thanks to a hypnotherapist, a wedding videographer, a felonious fugitive... and an inattentive employee at a TV station.

Will uncovers it all, from missing money to disappearing devil horns. His tale of Weird Politics is here.

-- Peter Overby

12:26 PM ET | 08-28-2008 | permalink

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McCain to Return Money Raised by Foreign Businessman

The McCain campaign announced last night that it will return about $50,000 raised by Jordanian businessman Mustafa Abu Naba'a on behalf of prolific McCain bundler Harry Sargeant III.

The New York Times and Washington Post have been investigating the contributions for several days. Although no illegal activity was uncovered, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told the Associated Press that the circumstances surrounding some of the donations that came through Abu Naba'a -- including some contributors telling reporters that they did not support Sen. McCain's candidacy -- "just didn't sound right to us."

The FEC prohibits foreign nationals from donating to US campaigns. The law is unclear about whether it's legal for them to solicit political contributions.

-- Evie Stone

7:46 AM ET | 08- 8-2008 | permalink

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McCain Reviews Donations From Bundler

NPR's Peter Overby reports that John McCain's campaign is sending letters to some 90 donors whose contributions were solicited by Florida businessman Harry Sargeant III. The letter (which you can read here) asks donors to seek a refund from the campaign if they donated illegally -- i.e. if they are not US citizens or green card holders, or if they were reimbursed for their donations. The McCain website lists Sargeant as a "bundler" who has raised more than $500,000 for the campaign.

Last week the watchdog group Campaign Money Watch identified some unlikely donors who had contributed to McCain through Sargeant. Subsequent investigations by the Washington Post and the New York Times have turned up other inconsistencies, including a co-bundler who is not a U.S. citizen and a family of modest means whose members gave McCain thousands of dollars but say they don't actually support his candidacy. The McCain campaign says it doesn't consider the co-bunder to be someone who was representing the campaign. Nothing illegal has been uncovered.

A McCain spokesman told NPR that the letters are going to everyone on Sargeant's list. The spokesman also pointed out that McCain has a vested interest in following campaign finance laws, since "he wrote large portions" of them himself.

Congress is also investigating allegations that Sargeant's company overcharged the Pentagon for their contract to supply fuel to U.S. forces in Iraq.

-- Evie Stone

5:31 PM ET | 08- 7-2008 | permalink

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For Your Midsummer Viewing. Grab The Remote.

What a difference four years makes, even for a billionaire like T. Boone Pickens.

It was four years and four days ago that Swift Boat Veterans for Truth logged in a $100,000 check from Pickens. The group had just finished shooting a TV ad that accused Democrat John Kerry of inflating his Vietnam war record. When the ad ran -- during the Democratic National Convention -- it knocked Kerry's presidential bid off the rails. Pickens went on to give Swift Boats a total of $2 million.

And today? Pickens isn't financing attack ads. Instead, the Texas oilman was on Capitol Hill, telling a Senate committee that it's time for America to take the plunge on wind, solar and natural gas. And last week he laid out $6.3 million for a TV ad to promote that goal.

That puts Pickens at the top of this week's list for independent political advertisers on television. While NPR follows the candidates, our Secret Money Project is tracking these non-affiliated players, watching where their money comes from and how they spend it. Last week, aside from Pickens, 10 groups had 14 spots airing.

Also on the air: dueling veterans, as we reported last week. The conservative Vets for Freedom spent roughly $768,000 to air its pro-surge ad more than 2,000 times. The AFL-CIO, with a Veterans Council, spent less than one-tenth that much for its own ad, in which a Vietnam veteran criticizes Republican John McCain's Senate record.

Health Care for America Now, a new coalition of liberal groups, hit the airwaves in its campaign against insurance companies.

Most of the groups were aiming at the presidential race. Just one, the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, weighed in on a Senate campaign. Its ad promotes Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and targets Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota for his support of legislation that would make it easier for unions to win organizing votes.

And a tip of the reportorial fedora to Will Evans of the Center for Investigative Reporting, who analyzed our data from the Campaign Media Analysis Group and works on the Secret Money Project.

-- Peter Overby

4:23 PM ET | 07-22-2008 | permalink

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Man Bites Dog. Political Group Returns Big Contributions.

This from Will Evans of the Center for Investigative Reporting. Will and NPR's money-and-politics maven, Peter Overby, are working together on the Secret Money Project, an investigation of the outside groups that want to influence voters.

Here's something that doesn't happen everyday: a political advocacy organization giving back money.

Progressive Media Action has reported returning $2 million in contributions it had received to do battle with Republican presidential candidate John McCain. It's quite a turnaround for a group that had loudly announced a $40 million campaign to influence the 2008 election.

Headed by right-wing-attack-dog-turned-left-wing-attack-dog David Brock, the non-profit Progressive Media USA and affiliated political organization Progressive Media Action morphed out of another big-money operation, the modestly titled Campaign to Defend America, which we covered back in March. But after the big roll-out, PMA pulled its own plug when Democratic candidate Barack Obama made it known he doesn't approve of independent efforts -- an edict that chilled liberal donors.

Now, Progressive Media has given back $1.5 million to film producer and Hollywood playboy Steve Bing; half a million dollars to a government employees union, and $100,000 to Win McCormack, an alternate Obama delegate from Oregon. Did Brock not know how to spend the money? Calls to his organization were not returned.

-- Evie Stone

12:40 PM ET | 07-16-2008 | permalink

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