Via Rick Hasen’s Election Law Blog comes a notable “quote of the day” from campaign finance lawyer Cleta Mitchell, commenting in a Politics Magazine article on the impact of McCain-Feingold’s soft money ban on the next round of redistricting.
“It was only [Sen. John] McCain and the morons at the Bush White House who didn’t realize the ultimate impact of the soft money ban,” Mitchell said.
The whole article, with Cleta’s full quote, in Politics Magazine is worth a read, particularly the details regarding the Republican National Committee’s lawsuit:
Both parties have reorganized and restructured their efforts in anticipation of the upcoming re-draw. Some of that retooling is out of necessity–next year will be the first redistricting since the passage of major campaign finance reform. The parties are adjusting to the post-McCain-Feingold landscape–an adjustment many observers say will be tougher for Republicans, who are traditionally more centralized, particularly when it comes to redistricting.
“McCain-Feingold tipped the scales to the model that works for the Democrats and redistricting is no different,” says Cleta Mitchell, a longtime Republican campaign finance lawyer. “It’s an alien concept for Republicans, to raise money outside of the party to do things that the party has traditionally done. It was only [Sen. John] McCain and the morons at the Bush White House who didn’t realize the ultimate impact of the soft money ban.”
Ten years ago, Republican redistricting efforts were funded by soft money (large donations not subject to any campaign finance limits that would funnel into the parties from corporate and other interests). Under current law, national parties cannot raise soft money to spend on elections or for legal purposes related to redistricting. The parties can still raise and spend hard dollars for the effort, but given the full docket of federal contests in 2010, competition for those dollars will be hard-fought. Outside groups, which can still pour unlimited soft money into the process, will have to do the heavy lifting when it comes to fundraising and organizing.
William J. McGinley of Patton Boggs has also written about the case at ExpressAdvocacy.com:
If successful, the RNC may be permitted to establish a redistricting account that will receive and spend soft money on redistricting activities.