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McCollum bid benefits from banking, financial interests
By ADAM C. SMITH © St. Petersburg Times, published September 27, 2000 Bill McCollum cast himself as a voice for campaign finance reform Tuesday, the same day a newspaper reported that he sought to underwrite his Senate campaign with contributions from companies with interests pending before his congressional committee. The Wall Street Journal, citing internal McCollum campaign documents, reported Tuesday that McCollum's fundraisers targeted 16 banking and financial corporations, including at least nine that could be directly affected by a bankruptcy bill McCollum helped craft. As of June 30, six of those companies had made maximum $10,000 contributions to McCollum's campaign, the Journal reported. The McCollum campaign responded Tuesday that the Republican congressman from Longwood would never allow political contributions to influence his legislative agenda. It should be no surprise, campaign spokeswoman Shannon Gravitte said, that big banking companies are supporting McCollum, who is vice chairman of the House Banking and Financial Services Committee. "Your friends support you," she said. "They know what he has done, they know his record, and they want that record to continue in the Senate." Meanwhile, McCollum on Tuesday renewed his call for Bill Nelson to agree to forgo unrestricted soft money for the remaining six weeks of the campaign. Noting that U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio and Hillary Clinton have agreed to bar soft money from their Senate race in New York, he suggested in a fax to reporters and Nelson that the same could be done here. At least that's what he seemed to suggest. Asked whether McCollum would return any soft money raised and ask his party not to spend any soft money on his behalf if Nelson did the same, Gravitte refused to say. "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals," she said. "Let's have a response from Bill Nelson to our letter." Soft money -- unrestricted contributions made to political parties -- is flowing freely in the contest to succeed Connie Mack in the U.S. Senate. Both Republican Bill McCollum and Democrat Bill Nelson have their own special committees to take soft money contributions. Both parties are airing attack ads funded by soft money. Last week, former President George Bush flew to Miami to help attract $20,000 corporate contributions on McCollum's behalf. Nelson, campaigning in North Florida, said he would have to see a specific proposal from McCollum and examine the arrangement Lazio and Clinton reached in New York, before considering a similar soft money deal. He dismissed as "silly" McCollum's letter, which called him a hypocrite and demanded that he apologize. "As we would say on the south 40, that is a bunch of heifer dust," Nelson said, calling the Wall Street Journal article a reminder of McCollum's "pattern" of working for special interests in Washington. The Journal report noted that McCollum's staff recently sought to help Atlanta-based SunTrust Bank Corp. recover money it paid into the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC chairman said McCollum's efforts to help SunTrust could weaken the FDIC and cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. The issue of campaign finance reform has surfaced repeatedly in this race, with both candidates accusing the other of hypocrisy on the matter and both sides aggressively raising soft money. Nelson has slammed McCollum for opposing the McCain-Feingold bill banning soft money, while McCollum repeatedly stresses that he supported an alternative proposal to end soft money contributions. - Times staff writer Shelby Oppel contributed to this report.
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From the Times state desk
From the state wire
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