Posted on 02/18/2004 6:51:24 AM PST by Valin
Student Reps for Dean, Edwards, Kerry, Bush Debate Campaign Finance
Student representatives campaigning for President George W. Bush and Democratic candidates Howard Dean, John Edwards, and John Kerry, participated in a presidential forum hosted by Democracy Matters last night.
The forum--the third in a five-part series--focused on campaign finance reform and other monetary issues. Each representative addressed the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act, fundraising limits, and the sources from which each candidate accepted campaign funds.
Wayne Ting, CC '06 and the student representative for Kerry, started the discussion with comments on Kerry's record and his support of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act.
Ting said that Kerry has never accepted money from Political Action Committees, and has also returned money donated from organizations he does not support.
"If you want to compete on the national level," he said, "You're going to have to accept dollars from people that may have ulterior motives. Kerry has been fairly careful not to accept dollars from people he doesn't agree with."
In elections, individuals can contribute up to $2,000 in both the primary and the presidential election. PACs can contribute up to $5,000.
But PACs can also bundle the contributions of individuals together and give them to candidates. This method of bundling allows PACs to exceed their $5,000 limit. Because the money comes from a PAC--despite originally being from the pockets of individuals--the PAC can still further its interests through this sort of contribution.
Bryan Schaitkin, CC '04 and the representative for Dean, talked about the former Vermont governor's policy and about how small donations should be matched by higher amounts so that they carry the weight of larger donations. He brought up the importance of reaching out to individuals for contributions as opposed to just reaching out to organizations.
"Dean has accumulated most of his funds through average Americans contributing whatever they can afford," Schaitkin said.
Schaitkin also suggested that if one candidate opts out of staying within campaign finance limits, the other candidates should be eligible to receive additional spending. This would encourage candidates to stay within the limits and create a campaign "between two relatively equally funded candidates," he said.
Edwards representative Alison Goodman, CC '04, made note of Edward's support of the McCain-Feingold bill. She also brought up the fact that Edwards is the only candidate who does not accept donations from registered lobbyists.
"He believes we should stop the influence of lobbyists walking through Washington with legislation in one hand and campaign contributions in the other," she said.
Goodman also said that Edwards has not opted out of a publicly funded campaign like Dean has.
Dean representative Schaitkin countered that "any candidate who wants to be successful has to get out of the system."
Goodman disagreed. "In order to have a successful campaign, you don't need to opt out," she said.
P.D. Shah, CC '05 and representative for Bush, spoke about the president's emphasis on the importance of disclosing all campaigns.
"Bush is the only candidate who discloses all his campaign contributions online," Shah said.
Shah also brought up the fact that 527s can raise millions of dollars--independent of parties--that can be spent on the election without any accountability. 527s are grassroot organizations that have raised their money through small individual contributions.
Over the past two months, 527s have spent $40 million advertising against Bush.
"President Bush is dedicated to stopping 527s from operating outside of McCain-Feingold," Shah said.
The Democratic representatives disagreed with Shah.
Ting countered that the main question is not whether 527s need to be stopped, but rather why they feel the need to raise lots of money in the hopes of defeating Bush.
Two other organizations will host presidential forums this week. Tonight's forum is sponsored by the Queer Alliance. The Asian Alliance is sponsoring the fifth forum, which will take place on Thursday night.
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