Unethical Donor Phoner Is Latest McCain Slip-Up

They say ad helping other GOP candidates is illegal

(NEWSER) - Democrats are accusing John McCain of violating the campaign finance law he championed based on some new ads in which he supports GOP congressional candidates Ruth McClung and Jesse Kelly. This, says the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission, represents an “in kind” donation that exceeds McCain-Feingold’s non-cash donation limit. They also claim it breaks the law’s rule limiting campaign committees to supporting a single candidate, the Washington Post reports. More»

Party challenges limits on 'soft money' donations, coordination with candidate

(NEWSER) - The Republican Party, smarting over its defeat at the hands of Barack Obama’s fundraising machine, is suing to defang the campaign-finance bill John McCain sponsored, the Washington Times reports. Two suits to be filed today will challenge the legislation’s limits on so-called “soft money” and the parties’ ability to merge spending efforts with individual campaigns. More»

The '08 version redrew the political map and ruptured the financing system, and more

(NEWSER) - We can't be sure what kind of change the next president will bring, but we do know that presidential campaigns themselves will never be the same, writes Gerald F. Seib in the Wall Street Journal. Among this year’s innovations:

• The campaigns have redrawn the political map, making previously locked states competitive, like Virginia, and placing increasing emphasis on the Mountain West.

Charity employees are more likely to donate money to the left side of the aisle, study finds

(NEWSER) - People in the charitable world lean heavily Democrat and love Barack Obama, but try to keep their affiliation low-key to avoid insulting the other side, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports. A new study shows that 88% of foundation worker donations went to Dems, enriching Obama's effort by $399,000 and John McCain's by $32,000. “There’s an overwhelmingly uniform personal ideology among this group,” said a director at the group doing the study. More»

But it paves way for new standard in political fundraising system

(NEWSER) - The huge success of Barack Obama’s Internet fundraising campaign has sparked concerns about the regulation of campaign finance. Some worry that the faceless system allows for easy abuse, particularly in light of donations from anonymous or clearly fake names such as "Osama bin Laden," the Washington Post reports. Dangerous or not, though, Obama’s fundraising has likely become a model for future campaigns. More»