When a Draft Group's Candidate Announces, What Comes Next?

After months of work, the momentous day for Peter Feddo and his colleagues at the "draft Hillary" movement had finally arrived: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's formation of an exploratory committee meant a presidential run was imminent.

So what now?

Draft committees are a peculiar political animal; they exist to start building excitement for a presidential candidate who hasn't even decided to run. They launch Web sites, collect names of potential supporters and raise money in anticipation of a presidential bid.

But once that presidential campaign sets sail, draft organizers find that their mission changes. They must figure out how to get the money and resources they've gathered into the hands of their candidate.

Even though there's typically not a lot of money involved in draft efforts -- Clinton's largest draft committee raised about $10,000 -- transferring that cash into a candidate's bank account can prove tricky.

"We're still sorting that out," Feddo said after the New York Democrat's Jan. 20 announcement.

Under federal election rules, a draft committee can spend the money on behalf of a politician, as long as it doesn't coordinate efforts with that candidate. But the committee can donate no more than the individual contribution limit of $2,300 for the primary and $2,300 for the general election, according to Michelle Ryan, an FEC spokeswoman.

For some committees, these limits don't pose a problem. Draft groups are formed for contenders that range from the potential (Wesley Clark, Al Gore), to the unlikely (Condoleezza Rice, Colin L. Powell), to the absurd (Bruce Springsteen, Martin Sheen, Michael Jackson).

Andrew Rosenberg, senior adviser to the largest committee aimed at drafting Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) into the presidential race, said his group collected "less than 10 grand" and plans to spend it independently. But he's still working on how to donate or sell the valuable list of e-mail addresses and phone numbers the Obama group has collected in 30 states.

"Whatever arrangement we come to will be completely appropriate under election law," Rosenberg said.

One group that has solved this problem is ActBlue political action committee, which handled early online collections for former senator John Edwards (N.C.), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and other Democratic candidates. Late last year, ActBlue received FEC approval to raise money for prospective candidates before their announcements.

Under the agreement, it forwards all funds raised by the draft group when the candidate forms a presidential committee. And if the candidate never gets into the race, the money is transferred to the Democratic National Committee instead. Republicans have a similar online operation, ABC PAC.