John McCain the Presidential Candidate is a very different person from John McCain the Senator. Though it’s not clear that McCain is doing anything illegal, his behavior with regards to funding is campaign finance is certainly outside the spirit of the legislation he authored with Russ Feingold to limit the influence of soft money in politics. As Ken Mehlman would say, “Flip-flop!”

From today’s Washington Post:

But now the contrast between McCain the presidential candidate and McCain the reformer can be jarring. McCain’s campaign says that he is still studying whether to forgo the public financing and spending limits he has long supported, but that he will not be handicapped by restrictions his competitors will not face in 2008.
…
McCain the reformer relentlessly argued that six- and seven-figure “soft money” checks that corporations, wealthy individuals and unions were giving to political parties to influence elections were corrupting American politics. “The voices of average Americans have been drowned out by the deafening racket of campaign cash,” he warned just a few years ago.

McCain the candidate has enlisted some of the same GOP fundraising giants who created and flourished in the soft-money system, including Bush’s fundraising “Pioneers” and “Rangers,” who earned their designations by raising at least $100,000 or $200,000 for his campaigns.

At least six of McCain’s first eight national finance co-chairmen have given or raised large donations for political parties or 527 groups, campaign and IRS records show. In all, the finance co-chairs have given at least $13.5 million in soft money and 527 donations since the 1998 election.

McCain is hitting big Bush donors. He’s refusing to set himself as a model for public financed campaigns, though no official announcement has come on that matter.

Frankly, I don’t see this flip-flop influencing too many Republican primary voters.


Technorati Tags: ,