The Trail

Thursday, August 21, 2008

MCCAIN'S PARTIAL DISCLOSURE

RNC Donor Report Due Oct. 15

John McCain filed campaign finance reports Wednesday that provide details about the $27 million his campaign raised in July.

But the same cannot be said for the McCain victory funds overseen by the Republican National Committee. The RNC is filing those reports quarterly. That means the public will have to wait until Oct. 15 -- two weeks before Election Day -- to learn the identities of the large donors who are ponying up as much as $70,000 per person to support McCain's presidential bid.

The Democratic National Committee is filing its forms monthly.

Fred Wertheimer, a campaign finance lawyer who runs the advocacy group Democracy 21 said the rules that govern party committee reports were set out in the landmark legislation championed by McCain -- the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as McCain-Feingold. That law specifies that it "requires monthly reports by national party committees."

FEC spokesman Bob Biersack said that, because the victory funds involve money for both federal and state party accounts, they're not purely a national party committee and have been permitted to file quarterly. That's also the reading of RNC lawyers, according to a party official, who said the GOP treasurer chose to do so "for administrative reasons because the accounting is so difficult."

Regardless of the legal question, Wertheimer says victory funds should be filing monthly, so donors' names can be subject to public review.

"I think the presidential candidates are responsible for ensuring disclosure here," Wertheimer said. "Disclosure is a basic prerequisite of campaign finance laws, and the only reason for not filing this information monthly would appear to be to hide the information from the public. This information should not be hidden from anyone."

That said, a careful review of McCain's reports gives clues to the identities of the people contributing to the victory funds. That's because the first $2,300 collected by the RNC's fund is automatically transferred into McCain's accounts, so long as those people have never given to McCain before. About 1,600 donors fit that pattern in July, and they account for $5.6 million in funds transferred from the victory account.

A number of GOP luminaries show up among those whose money was transferred. Mitt Romney gave to the fund in July. So did former secretary of state James A. Baker III and Patricia Bush, the wife of President George H.W. Bush's younger brother. Former defense secretary Caspar Weinberger is also a giver, as are former Tennessee senator William H. Frist and his wife.

-- Matthew Mosk and Sarah Cohen

WAR HITS HOME FOR VP PROSPECT

Biden's Son Headed to Iraq

As Barack Obama closes in on his running-mate pick, one prospect with clear momentum is Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Even troubling personal news for the Delaware Democrat has added a compelling twist to his case. On Oct. 3, Biden's son Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, 39, will be deployed to Iraq.

"I don't want him going," Biden told an Iowa State Fair crowd a year ago, when, as a presidential candidate himself, he learned that his son's unit would be deployed at some point in 2008. "But I don't want my grandsons or granddaughters going back in 15 years. So how we leave makes a big difference."

Beau Biden is the Delaware attorney general and a captain in the Army National Guard. He is the older of Biden's two sons with his first wife, Neilia. She was killed in a car accident, along with the couple's 1-year-old daughter, Naomi, shortly after Biden was elected to his first Senate term.

Beau and brother Hunter, both toddlers then, were seriously injured in the crash, and Biden was sworn in at their hospital bedside. Every night through six Senate terms, he has returned to Wilmington, Del., on Amtrak.

The deployment raises an interesting question: What will become of Biden's Senate seat if he gets the veep nod and Obama wins the election? Delaware political observers have long presumed that Beau hoped to succeed his father.

The senator, who is seeking a seventh term this year, can remain on the November Senate ballot, according to state election law. If Biden wins both races, he can take the Senate oath and then resign. The Democratic governor, Ruth Ann Minner, would then appoint a replacement who would serve until the next general election in 2010.

-- Shailagh Murray