[brothers4thID]

Wait.. try reading for comprehension. Thompson will not have to specify where all of his money donated through the testing the waters phase came from until Jan 31, 2008. BUT according to FEC rules he will, every quarter, have to indicate exactly how all campaign funds were raised and spent. So if any of his general election money is used during the campaign (which.. duh!) then he’ll have to indicate where that money came from. Thus, if he declares in September he has to indicate all fund raising and spending activities for that month by October 31st ( 30 days after the 3rd quarter ends.) Then, like EVERY OTHER CANDIDATE, he has to make another disclosure in January 2008 for the 4th quarter of 2007.

I tried putting this in small words so you’ll understand, but I can’t detach my brain that much.

[Lovebloggers]

Tell that to the FEC:

“What’s gotten Mr. Thompson in trouble is that in order to be considered in the “testing the waters” phase of one’s campaign, one cannot make “written or oral statements” that refer to one’s self as “a candidate for a particular office.” However, in order to keep up interest from voters, Mr. Thompson has had to play a little peek-a-boo with statements such as: “You’re either running or not running. I think the steps we’re taking are pretty obvious.” But why should our election laws encourage candidates to engage in such charades? The “testing the waters” status allows candidates to delay disclosing who their donors are and how much they’ve raised, but this only muddies the waters as voters and donors consider a potential candidate. The only other thing the status accomplishes is to create uncertainty for potential campaigns as to what they can and cannot do as far as raising and spending money and communicating with voters. Having gotten it wrong could end up costing Mr. Thompson more than $1 million in fines.”