Posted on 11/13/2008 5:10:54 AM PST by HastertFan
The Republican Party will file federal lawsuits Thursday seeking to overthrow the McCain-Feingold federal campaign finance regulations, Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan revealed Wednesday night at a private dinner with the nation's Republican governors.
The move is considered a slap in the face of the Republican Party's failed 2008 presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who was dramatically outspent by Democrat Barack Obama, and of President Bush, who signed McCain-Feingold into law in 2002.
"We will bring two federal suits tomorrow to strengthen the Republican Party," Mr. Duncan told The Washington Times.
Mr. Duncan said one suit will be filed in the District of Columbia to strike down the soft-money ban that is the central tenet of the McCain-Feingold Act formally known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. "Soft money" is largely unrestricted contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations and labor unions.
The second suit will be in a Louisiana federal court to strike down the limits under the law Mr. McCain co-sponsored with Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat, that control coordination between parties and their candidates.
"It prohibits us from spending over $84,000 in coordination with a candidate in a congressional race," Mr. Duncan said. "That means we have to find some group to raise and spend money but without any coordination" with the candidate, his campaign or the RNC.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Good idea. Slap McWhacked once for me as well.
While they are at it, they need to spearhead movements in the states with early primaries to change the rules to block Dims from crossing over and voting in our primaries and picking the weakest candidate for us.
I wish they would send McQueeg packing before he can do anymore damage.
Let's get this party back under control of Conservatives before it's too late.
Owl_Eagle
When the stock market crashed,
Franklin Roosevelt got on the television
and didnt just talk about
the princes of greed, he said,
Look, heres what happened."
-Slow Joe Biden
As my mom used to say, “The horse is already out of the barn.”
On this issue, Sen McCain & Pres Bush have sown the wind and reaped the whirlwind. Their entire base opposed them, and they went with their enemies instead. And their enemies turned it around with 527’s and billionaires and stabbed them in the heart with the very issue they had hoped would provide security for incumbents.
The best rule about money is no rules.
All of which matters little if conservatives don’t find a way around the mainstream media. The concessions to their preferred candidate cannot be matched in funds when it comes to air time.
But at least this is something now...however late.
Now that McCain lost, we must do our part to stand in the breech and write our GOP senators and urge them to stand.
At the same time standing up in any way we can ourselves over these next four years until we can turn this OBAMANATION around.

The Left spent the last 8 year devising a concise plan to win. The Repubs spent that time doing everything in their power to help them.
Enforces my belief that this 2 party structured system is merely a distraction for a Socialist NWO takeover.
Better late than never.
It should never have been passed in the first place.
And of course, McCain should NEVER have been seriously considered as a GOP presidential candidate, but what are you gonna do, eh?
Yes..., McCain has been *whacked* by McCain-Feingold... LOL..
How appropriate!
About Effing time.
Let me get this straight. This is the same Republican Party which got on the McCain bandwagon from the beginning of the campaign? I wonder which actual conservative was responsible for finally getting through to these idiots to recognize the errors of their ways.
So...what a minute. The campaign finance reform plan that was designed to unilaterally disarm Republican candidates isn’t such a good idea after all? Wow, sure glad they figured that out.
A law written by a republican to help republicans lose is not being taken to court to be overturn by republicans. Nice. With friends like this...
You see, there's this magic number of 60, "my friends".
Bush is still at it, according to Michelle Malkin.
When was the party ever under the control of conservatives?
“Mr. Duncan led the RNC in raising more than $315 million for this year’s campaigns, winning the admiration of Republican candidates and state Republican Party officials and outperforming Howard Dean’s DNC fundraising performance. About $53 million was used to bolster Mr. McCain’s bid.”
Let’s get real here...SARAH PALIN essentially ‘raised’ that money! The RNC was floundering all over the place until the base came out after she was added to the ticket.
That said, we should have brought suit on this assault to free speech long ago.
It’s about time. Jeez, how many more things must the conservatives be proven right about before people in our party start taking our opinions seriously.
When we have so many RINOs (including McQueeg) in Congress, that figure is moot.
There is a bitter irony in McCain-Feingold and McCains 2008 run for the presidency. Hoisted on his own petard.
It is rather laughable that it bit him more than his opponent.
Further proof that just because Congress passes it and the President signs it and the Supreme Court upholds most of it, that doesnt always make it a good law.
Who the heck cares anyway? Nobody follows the rules anyway. The 527’s did the end run around M/F. Abolish it.
I love how that reads. Maybe the conservatives are finally growing a set.
Obammie the Commie bought his election with stolen money and illegal foreign campaign contributions.
In Andy Rooney's voice:
Djever notice how when Republicans raise more money for elections it's suddenly a good idea to “get the money out of politics”?
Djever notice how when DemocRATS raise more money for elections it's a grassroots effort, the voice of the people, the “little guys” showing their enthusiastic support for the DemocRAT nominee?
Correct. They had millions in illegal contributions flooding in from overseas. There were a few stories on it, but no investigation, no penalty, even after the election, it just helped the Marxist squirrel win.
Pubbies follow rules and get spanked and prosecuted if they don't, and often even get prosecuted for no good reason (Scooter Libby, e.g., and now Bush and Cheney are next). Dims do whatever the hell they want with no consequences (e.g., Obozo may not even be a US citizen and therefore not legally qualified to be POTUS, but the medjia and the courts want no part of investigating it). The medjia is little different than Pravda was. We have virtual one party rule for those with eyes to see. Pubs appear to be a prop to make it appear to sheeple that we have a fair two-party system, yada yada.With no term limits, congress critters just find it comfy to be in the elite Beltway class, even those in the RINO minority.
When someone like a Palin appears on the Nat'l political scene who isn't part of this little charade of ruling Dims, medjia lapdogs, and RINO get-alongs, all of the above have a collective cow and dust off the heavy artillery to take out said interloper.
Not to be doom and gloom -- just to state the facts: we are so screwed, and everyone's pooch too.
As I recall it was moderate Republicans (and some conservatives, like Fred Thompson!) who allowed McCain-Feingold to go through. Not to mention signing it was GWB’s biggest mistake. So for party leaders to admit they want to undo their own legislation is pretty embarrassing. Of course another big proponent of “reform” was the defeated Rep. Chris Shays.
ICBW, but I'm pretty sure that it is the political parties themselves that determine whether their primary is open or closed. When I lived in NYC, the primaries were closed. Since I've been in WV, until this year, the rat primary was open and the GOP closed. The GOP opened their primary this year. However, the May GOP primary here which elected only 9 of the state's 30 delegates was anti-climatic due to the corrupt, first ever WV GOP Presidential Convention (insiders only) on Super Tuesday.
McCain was outspent 8 to 1. Obama shut off the ticker on his incoming funds.
They ahould have filed suit to ensure Obama and the democrats followed this.
Well, even better would be to make it a law that candidates for President HAD to use the Federal monies set aside for elections as John McCain did. Had this occurred, Obama would not be guilty of accepting so much money from foreign nationals. And he’d have lost.
Conservatives should do this more often and IMMEDIATELY after a law is passed, just like the Libs.
Go challenge it in court.
Go away and take all your lame ass leadership with you McLame.
If the primaries had been closed, McCain would never have been the nominee. The democrats not only gave us Obama, but effectively gave us McCain.
Truer words were never spoken.
Thanks a lot Senator Maverick!
Remember the argument at the time? "It's unconstitutional, scotus will strike it down". So he signed it. (the "New Tone" and all that crap) What kind of conservative "constructionist" signs a bill he knows to be unconstitutional?
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
I don’t see anyone trying to prevent another 2008.
Our NH and FL FRiends need to get off the computer and get on state gop activities.
I will get involved
Wow—I’m impressed. It only took how long for the light bulb to go on with these people?
As for McBipartisan, he can go where the sun doesn’t sun.
As usual, GOP is behind the 8-ball. Good they’re doing it. Why did they wait?
I'll remember to bump this thread when the 'pubbies are filibustering the fairness doctrine or Jamie Gorrelick's federal court appointment.
Repubs did not donate to anyone including FRed,Tancredo or Duncan.
Mass helplessness set in.
Ditto. Bad idea in the first place. Poetic justice on McCain, but the country will suffer for it.
I seem to remember some sources said McCain would have challenged Bush either for the nomination or as an independent in 2004 if he had not signed this. Maybe Bush thought he owed McCain after some of the bitterness in 2000. Since it was thought the Supreme Court would rule against it maybe he thought it was best to just sign it. Still, all things considered, he should have vetoed it as he said he would in the 2000 primary campaign.
You are right about Thompson. That is one reason I was less than enthusiastic about his candidacy though I eventually voted for him in the primary.
I say he and other Republicans “allowed” the bill to pass because they were the deciding votes, I think, even though they were a minority in the GOP. The coalition of moderate Repubs and Dems got the bill through, and broke the filibuster that Mitch McConnell and others supported.
GWB stood up to al qaeda and the bad guys but he sort of caved when it came to this issue and it cost him and the party a lot. Very bad.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.