Feingold's re-election campaign brings in funding (SHOCKING NEWS!! alert)

Badger Herald News ^ | 1/27/04 | Abby Peterson

[Valin]

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., co-author of past campaign finance reform legislation, has earned more money for his re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate than his three Republican opponents combined. As of the Sept. 30 third-quarter filing period last year, Feingold amassed $2.3 million for his re-election campaign. Challenger Russ Darrow earned nearly $900,000 by that date, followed by Tim Michels, who raised more than $550,000. State Sen. Bob Welch, R-Marion, finished at the bottom of the Republican candidate pool with $300,000. Four times a year, candidates are required to report the amount their campaign has raised.

Since then, Republican candidates Darrow and Michels have both topped the million-dollar mark in campaign contributions earned. The Michels campaign, however, asserts Feingold has nearly tripled his campaign earnings since September, currently putting him well over $6 million.

"Feingold is a well-entrenched incumbent raising money hand over fist," Cullen Sheehan, director of the Tim Michels senate campaign, said. "He has raised more money this election year than he has raised in any other campaign."

Representatives within the Darrow campaign allege that the Democratic senator is raising a considerable amount of his money outside the state of Wisconsin as well.

Feingold has not yet publicly released the fourth quarter figures for his re-election campaign.

Although the Democratic senator put a spending cap on his last re-election campaign in 1998, in which he refused to spend more than $1 per voter, Feingold has not indicated he will do the same this time around.

The large disparity in campaign contributions between the Democratic senator and his Republican opponents is putting a twist on the upcoming senate election, as someone who is largely associated with campaign finance reform is set to outspend the sum total of his conservative rivals' expenditures.

Although campaign finance reform is meant to equal the playing field, Feingold's opponents argue that it helps incumbents such as Feingold hold onto their political seats while also severely handicapping rivals from launching a successful challenge to current office holders. They claim restrictions placed on raising money for campaigns inherently benefit incumbents because they can beat other candidates on name recognition alone, since challengers cannot earn enough money to wage a strong campaign.

"[Feingold's] campaign finance law limits free speech and gives extreme groups ... more power to control elections, making it more difficult to defeat entrenched incumbents like himself," Michels said in a release.

Feingold's camp argues that the senator's popularity with the Wisconsin electorate is the reason for his large number of contributions, not because of any innate benefits campaign finance reform legislation gives him as an incumbent.

"Senator Feingold is committed to running a strong grassroots campaign. His campaigns have never been about fundraising, but rather focus on the issues important to Wisconsinites," George Aldrich, Feingold Senate Committee campaign manager, said in a statement to the Badger Herald.

Feingold co-authored the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill, which was signed into law by President Bush in March 2002. The legislation eliminates the use of large, unregulated contributions, otherwise known as "soft money," to candidates running for political office.

[Always Right]

This is why some people call CFR the incumbant protection program.