The Cash That Dare Not Speak His Name

OpinionJournal.com ^ | -7-30-4 | KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL

[Redbob]

BOSTON--If you want to know just how the new campaign finance laws are transforming politics, look no further than a crowded press conference here at the Four Seasons. Harold Ickes, the New York lawyer behind two new liberal fund-raising outfits, took time out of his Democratic Convention duties to crow that the unlimited soft money he'd raised had made "Democrats competitive." He then turned over the mike to colleagues who promised to use the rest of the convention to rake in yet more cash.

Thus was the last pretense at campaign finance "reform" dumped into Boston Harbor. ... But the farce hit an all-time low at the Democratic National Convention, where the groups that spent the past year quietly sidestepping the law felt confident enough of its loopholes to openly assume their place as the new fund-raising arm of the Democratic Party.

At the front of the parade were Mr. Ickes' trust-fund babies, America Coming Together and The Media Fund. ....

Both rolled into Beantown along with the rest of the Democratic apparatus, warmed up the cash registers, and commenced targeting those rich Dems who'd maxed out on their hard-money contributions to candidates. ...

ACT alone plans to raise $125 million,...

For an explanation of how all this differs from what candidates and parties did before the new law, call John McCain.

Officially, 527s aren't allowed to expressly advocate a candidate or to coordinate with an official party. Their answer to the first problem is simply never to allow "John Kerry" to pass their lips,... Example: "We're going to win the election for Democrats up and down the ticket," ACT President Ellen Malcolm told the press.

Mr. Kerry is the top of that ticket, but since Ms. Malcolm dares not speak his name, no laws are broken. Easy, right?

[Redbob]

Paging John McCain, paging John McCain...

Was this exactly what you had in mind, you arrogant twit?

[mewzilla]

...Harold Ickes, the New York lawyer behind two new liberal fund-raising outfits...

And who's behind Harold Ickes...

[Redbob]

Funny that didn't say, "Harold Ickes, former top Clinton staffer and Bagman-in-Chief to the Clinton campaigns."

[Redbob]

Or consider this:

"... voters struggle to hold 527 donors responsible because it's difficult to glean donor info from quarterly Internal Revenue Service records, which often don't come out until after elections happen anyway.
Reform?"

[George W. Bush]

When you look at the overall Dim operation, you see these new soft-money entities for the large Dim donors. Along with this, mega-wealthy Dims like Soros and Madame Kerry create many organizations like Tides Foundation to employ people who will then donate in their own names all round.

In this mix, toss in the Hollyweird crowd who make a lot of personal appearances and, among the wealthiest, big money donations to the Dims and their causes. The Hollyweirdos help draw in more of these donors as is indicated by how many of the Dim convention parties and fundraisers feature the celebrity class.

But at least McStain/Feingold fixed campaign finance for us.

[CaptRon]

Of all of Clinton's scum, I have always thought the Ickes was the lowest of the low, and he's arrogant about it. The only person I despise as much as him is Richard Holbrooke.