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September 22, 2002
WASHINGTON -- Facing a legal deadline to rid themselves of all "soft money" in seven weeks, the Republican and Democratic parties are pouring millions of dollars into a relative handful of tight House and Senate races that will determine control of Congress.
These competitive campaigns have drawn big donations in their own right, but the national parties are flooding them with independent spending because of a bill the president signed in March.
The campaign finance law sponsored by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., will bar the parties from raising or spending soft money, a category of unlimited and largely unregulated contributions that have financed attack ads and other campaign tools in dozens of states for years. The law takes effect Nov. 6, meaning the parties must empty their coffers of soft money by then.
This fall marks the last gasp for such spending by party officials, who are dumping resources into campaigns that, in some cases, already had enough money to saturate the airwaves with ads. The extra money threatens to overwhelm voters and TV viewers, especially in small states where air time costs relatively little.
For example, in South Dakota's fiercely contested Senate race between Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and Republican Rep. John Thune, strategists say each party will buy 3,000 television "points" in the closing weeks. The purchases, financed mainly with soft money, are in addition to ads bought by Thune's and Johnson's official campaigns. The parties' buy translates into "a political ad in every commercial break, 24 hours a day," a key player said. "People will be shooting their television sets."
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he plans to funnel $2-million to $4-million in soft money to each of the 10 or 12 most tightly contested House races. The NRCC plans to invest as much as $4-million to protect endangered incumbents, far more than the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee can invest.
Meanwhile, the Democratic and Republican senatorial campaign groups have spent $20-million -- three-quarters of it soft money -- on TV ads in 13 states. They intend to spend much more before the Nov. 5 elections.
"The system is about overkill -- overkill in the raising of soft money and overkill in the spending of soft money," said Fred Wertheimer, president of the watchdog group Democracy 21.
The Nov. 6 deadline isn't the only reason key congressional races are awash in soft money this fall. With President Bush as a draw, the Republican Party has been especially busy, setting fundraising records this year. Moreover, donors to both parties have high incentives to give generously because control of the House and Senate is very much in play. Because only a handful of the House's 435 races are competitive, the parties can target their money narrowly.
The McCain-Feingold law will bar only the parties -- not independent groups -- from raising and spending soft money for federal campaigns. Some party activists are involved in independent organizations that can stay in the soft-money game. But the new law will dramatically change practices within the official Democratic and Republican committees, where soft money's role has soared.
The GOP has raised $180-million in soft money for this year's elections, compared with $137-million for the same period in 2000, and $70-million in the election before that, according to Common Cause. The Democratic Party has collected $121-million in soft money for this year's elections, compared with $119-million for the comparable period in 2000, and $46-million in 1998.
Now under a "use it or lose it" deadline, the two parties are funneling cash to campaigns such as the battle for Pennsylvania's 17th U.S. House District in the Harrisburg area. There, the NRCC has launched a $2.4-million television blitz to help re-elect Rep. George W. Gekas, 72, who has not had a tough race in years. Soft money also can be used for mailings, get-out-the-vote efforts and other campaign needs.
The sum staggers even campaign veterans. "That's real money," said lobbyist Bill Paxon, a former NRCC chairman.
Republicans, who hold a 60-40 voter registration edge in the district, plan to hammer away at the message that Gekas is the contest's true conservative. "We're going to make it clear our guy's the Republican and their guy's the liberal Democrat," the NRCC's Davis said. "It's going to take money to get that message across, but we're going to make sure everyone in that district hears it."
Gekas' opponent, Democratic Rep. Tim Holden, 45, is trying to turn the GOP soft money into a campaign issue. He is airing a commercial featuring middle-class voters and a voice saying: "For 10 years, Timmy has always delivered for us. Now they are going to spend two and a half million dollars to tell lies about Tim's record, and mailing us garbage."
That doesn't mean Holden won't benefit from soft money. Democratic officials say they plan to spend at least $750,000 for ads on his behalf.
Even the nominees seem uneasy about the cash pouring into their district -- much of it buying ads they can't control. "There is an outrageous amount of money being spent here," Holden said in an interview.
Gekas said GOP leaders told him months ago they planned to spend "a couple of million dollars (on the race), which shocked me. It's not a last-minute decision that was made."