The Trail: A Daily Diary of Campaign 2008

So, once President John SIDNEY McCain appoints the quorum to the FEC, what exactly do you think it will do to him?

This brings up some old news. When John Kerry's nomination bid was faltering, he lent his campaign a few million dollars. It was against the law for his wealthy wife to do so but John's income was inadequate to service such a loan. It seemed a dodge at the time, yet the media left it unexamined.

But let's rake John McCain over the coals when he is caught in a bureaucratic Catch 22, shall we?

edbyronadams:

I enjoy sticky-FEC questions, so I have no problem dealing with the substance of the allegations -- I'm just hoping that McCain picks someone like Romney or Bloomberg as his running mate -- whether a VICE-Presidential candidate can fund their campaign is an open question too (even Micheal Toner would admit that much ; )

One former FEC chairman, Michael Toner, said McCain would not need action by the FEC to pull out of public financing: "If a candidate indicates he or she does not want the money and does so before payments are made and does not take advantage of the promise of future payments, then he or she is free to withdraw from the system," said Toner, who advised former GOP presidential contender Fred Thompson. "That's my understanding of exactly what happened here."

http://electionlawblog.org/archives/010170.html

The only REAL question is whether Barack HUSSEIN Obama will abide by his pledge to aggressively pursue an agreement on public financing for the GENERAL election.

Hillary Clinton is low on cash for the primaries!

http://tpzoo.wordpress.com/2008/03/21/this-is-why/

Harsh.

More belligerence and bull-headedness from GOP candidates and politicians. Surprise.

For anyone living in Pennsylvania:

Monday, March 24th is the DEADLINE to register for the Pennsylvania primary -- if you are currently registered Republican or Idependent -- you can always switch back after the primary:

https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/Pages/VoterRegistrationApplication.aspx

Where is the FEC located? Miami?

During an Election, the People in Charge are MISSING FOUR Positions?

WTF? Still trying to find an Un-Documented to get the job filled on the sly?

Waiting for the H1-B Visa?

Can't find ANYONE in Washington who can pass the Ethics Challenge? ;~)

Where did you get the $54 million figure for the spending cap? The FEC says $42 million on its website.

http://www.fec.gov/pages/brochures/pubfund_limits_2008.shtml

God D the FEC

You know I am starting to think all the pols are the same.

O wait they are unless the are a woman. We can have women with ambition or guile.

Since there is not a voting quorum on the FEC, I suppose all technical rulings are in the "no controlling legal precedent" realm.

I am an Obama supporter who constantly struggles with my "white liberal guilt"..at least my life experiences enlightened me beyond the "white conservative racists" who have to vote for McBush.

Another wrinkle to the McCain/Public financing story that just never seems to be mentionied much:

The fact of opting into the public system allowed McCain's campaign to avoid the COSTLY and time consuming process of gathering petition signatures to be placed on various primary ballots. It's a cost and effort that very possibly would have killed his campaign, had they been forced to do it themselves.

So beyond the here and now question of whetehr he's committing a felony by continuing to campaign while is public financing status is an open question, he's already accrued tangible benefits from his intentions to enter the system. It's entirely possible that McCain's organization wouldn't have been able to pull together the operation to gather the necessary signatures to get him onto some of the Supper Tuesday states that essentially propelled him to his nomination.

The only reason this is a news item is because it's not fair to pick on a 200-year old man.

Again, sghost75, once President John SIDNEY McCain appoints the quorum to the FEC, what exactly do you think it will do to him? Fine him? Impeach him? Assassinate him? Tell us.

The real issue here is whether Obama should be held to his statement that he take public financing if John McCain won't be held to his pledge and use of the public financing system to get on the ballot and get a loan. I don't think Obama should be held to his previous statement. John McCain better not make an issue of it or it really will be double speak.

Using the public financing precluded him from having to spend money on getting signatures to go on ballots in certain states...he thus used this system to short cut what would have been a more expensive independently financed way to get to primary ballots...

Other candidates did not say they were going to use public financing and thus used fund raising to reach the same result...

thus he had an advantage that he now is bowing away from after the fact...

John McInsane got the loan on false pretences which amounts to fraud.

edbyronadams - What you said about Kerry is not accurate. He lent himself money by using his Boston Townhouse as collateral. It was all perfectly legal.

As for McCain, I believe that the law is written in such a way that makes it illegal to remove yourself from public financing - once you have committed yourself - without a ruling from the FEC.

The FEC is deadlocked because Republicans in the Senate want on vote for all proposed Commissioners and the Democrats want separate vote - especially for vote-suppression guru Hans von Spakovsky.

McCain - the saint of Campaign Finance Reform - is actually trying to game the system. He has an agreement with a bank for a loan and if his campaign went badly the federal government - i.e. all of us taxpayers - would bail him out and pay back the loan (by using the matching funds); if he did well then he would not need to government to match the funds. He is clearly gaming the system and it very well may be a federal crime.

Another reasons why Britney shouldn't get visitation rights to see her kids. Whoops, wrong news story. Who's John McCain anyways?

"edbyronadams - What you said about Kerry is not accurate. He lent himself money by using his Boston Townhouse as collateral. It was all perfectly legal."

Since his only income was his salary as a senator, how did he service the loan? I never claimed the loan was illegal.

JakeD's comment regarding John Kerry's loan to his campaign contains an error: Kerry's campaign was loaned money from a mortgage on a Kerry Massachusetts townhouse, not from his income stream.

edbyronadams:

McCain was, until a few weeks ago, the self-appointed crusader for campaign finance reform.

In the space of mere weeks, he has thrown out his convictions and sought to extricate himself from the product of his own efforts as fast as he can.

Tsk tsk. So yes, this level of sanctimoniousness is almost maddeningly intolerable. He deserves every bit of a public admonishment.

Makes one wonder what convictions he'll throw out as a commander-in-chief. Look no further than Bush for evidence of the outcome.

goldie2, amacmill, info4 or Michael_Nemec:

Assuming President John SIDNEY McCain eventually nominates (and the Senate confirms) a quorum to the FEC, what exactly do you think the FEC will do to him? Fine him? Impeach him? Assassinate him? Please, tell us.

kmsmp:

Your post contains an error: I did not post about Kerry.

McCain will follow the Bush lead, and ignore all rules and laws. He will also continue to spout deceit as truth if it serves his own delusional beliefs. For example, he recently said that if we withdraw from Iraq, al Qaeda will have won. He also suggested, while in the ME, that we need to be very wary of the "al Qaeda/Iran connection. He apparently doesn't realize that the Shiite have been enemies of the Sunni connected al Qaeda and that the Iraqi Sunni have broken off the relationship. Well, maybe he does know it but that tidbit doesn't serve his fear mongering agenda.

The bottom line is McCain lied. He pledged to take public financing, got a $4 million loan and free access to state ballots then reneged on his pledge. So much for being a "straight talker."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/21/mccain-spiritual-guide-ac_n_92757.html

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maybe McCain can call upon his endorser to deliver a fire and brimstone speech. Shake some money out of the trees!

poortrekker:

Neither of the remaining Democratic candidates took public financing for thir PRIMARY -- at least McCain has agreed to accept public financing for the GENERAL election -- so the only question is will Barack HUSSEIN Obama abide by his pledge to aggressively pursue such an agreement? It appears not, so it would be political suicide for John SIDNEY McCain to do so.

Yes, McCain has played the campaign finance restrictions close to the edge. I admit that but they are in a very gray area, one that cannot be resolved because of the political impasse in the Senate. Barring resolution, he has no obligation to swing well within all bounds of the law he helped establish just to look saintly and lose a nomination.

If the Democrats want to play gotcha, I suppose they must yield to the Republican position in the Senate. Otherwise, my remark referencing Al Gore's response to campaign finance gaffes stands although Gore's was a more substantial violation.

JakeD's comment regarding John Kerry's loan to his campaign contains an error: Kerry's campaign was loaned money from a mortgage on a Kerry Massachusetts townhouse, not from his income stream.

Posted by: kmsmp | March 21, 2008 02:14 PM

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JakeD, wrong? No way!!!

docbox88:

He did not "lie" -- even if he did, is it an FEC violation -- please see the comments, above, of former FEC Chairman Michael Toner : )