Post Politics Hour

washingtonpost.com's Daily Politics Discussion

Don't want to miss out on the latest in politics? Start each day with The Post Politics Hour. Join in each weekday morning at 11 a.m. as a member of The Washington Post's team of White House and Congressional reporters answers questions about the latest in buzz in Washington and The Post's coverage of political news.

Washington Post campaign finance reporter Matthew Mosk was online Tuesday, July 22 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news in politics.

The transcript follows.

Get the latest campaign news live on washingtonpost.com's The Trail, or subscribe to the daily Post Politics Podcast.

Archive: Post Politics Hour discussion transcripts

____________________

Matthew Mosk: Good Morning,

Sen. Barack Obama just wrapped up a press conference in Jordan after exiting Iraq without getting caught wearing a funny helmet. Both Obama and McCain filed their campaign finance reports over the weekend, and when their funds are combined with those of their respective political parties, they are just about at even strength, with about $100 million each.

That should leave room for lots to talk about.

Let's chat.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: I have been very impressed by the huge positive reaction that Obama has received among the troops in the places he is visiting. It appears from the coverage that he is being mobbed by cheering crowds at every stop. Do you think this will have some effect breaking the stereotype that people in the military are all conservatives and Republicans who monolithically support the GOP? Is it just a matter that anyone who is visiting with a camera crew that excites them? Does some one like McCain get such a huge reaction as well?

Matthew Mosk: Hello Arlington,

The footage you are describing may have been worth the cost of Obama's trip. The images of troops joyfully welcoming Obama certainly do seem to reflect positively on him. But it's possible your theory about troops loving the camera may have some currency. If veterans are any measure, they still strongly favor Sen. McCain. The latest Washington Post-ABC News national poll found veteran voters broke for McCain 59 to 29 percent. In his 2004 re-election, Bush won these voters 57-41.

_______________________

Northville, N.Y.: As of today, does the GOP tactic mocking Obama about not visiting Iraq appear to have backfired big time? Doesn't it look like Maliki already has decided that McCain isn't going to win?

Matthew Mosk: There definitely seems to be every indication this trip has gone well for Sen. Obama. McCain's campaign has found some moments to exploit, though. This morning, the campaign sent out this observation from longtime political insider David Gergen, who was speaking on CNN last night: "I think [Obama] leaves himself open to the charge tonight that he's meddling, that this is not his role, that he can be the critic, but he's not the negotiator. We have a president who does that. So, I think the underlying facts support him, but I think it would be a real mistake -- and I think it was a mistake -- to get into these conversations and let it be used politically."

This morning during his press conference, Sen. Obama specifically noted that he would not want to reveal in any detail the nature of his discussion with Maliki.

_______________________

Baltimore: One of the interesting things about the Obama fundraising numbers is that a huge chunk of the money came on the last day of the month. Could this be where the $30 million rumor came from, or is there some sort of accounting trick that tends to inflate the "last day of the month" figure?

Matthew Mosk: Hello Baltimore. I just spoke with George Smaragdis at the Federal Election Commission to confirm my suspicion about this. In fact, all this money did not arrive at Obama's campaign on the last day of the month. What happened is this: FEC rules don't require campaigns to give details about donors who give less than $200. So the report of all of those so-called unitemized contributions (all the ones under $200) are placed on the report in one big chunk (or huge chunk, in Obama's case). As a result, those unitemized contributions all show up on the last day of the filing period.

_______________________

Plymouth, Minn.: Morning! Yesterday I asked Howard Kurtz what the McCain camp would do(drastically) to suck some airtime out of Barack. Lo and behold, I hear speculation that McCain will name his running mate before Barack comes back home. Is this actually something, or is it really nonsense to get media time? If they do indeed name a running mate, does this actually play into Obama's game anyway? What benefit is there?

Matthew Mosk: Thanks for this interesting observation, Plymouth. Astute readers of the Drudge Report will notice that for the past 48 hours he's been including this (misleading) headline about a Robert Novak column: NOVAK: MCCAIN VP PICK TO COME 'THIS WEEK'...

Some people I've spoken with have speculated that the float of a possible VP announcement was intended to distract attention from Sen. Obama's Iraq trip. Whether an actual announcement will follow seems less likely, just so long as we're all talking about the possibility.

_______________________

Williamsburg, Va.: There has been a lot of buzz about the possibility that McCain will name Bobby Jindal as his running mate Thursday. How serious is this? Wouldn't Jindal's article discussing the exorcism he performed while in college make him an immediate joke? Wouldn't his relative lack of experience undercut McCain's argument about Obama's lack of experience?

Matthew Mosk: See my last response, Williamsburg, for my theory about why there is buzz right now on this topic.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Do you know whether a vice presidential nominee -- say, someone wealthy, like Mitt Romney -- is legally allowed to spend his own money for the ticket?

Matthew Mosk: This questions offers us a nice pivot into some campaign finance questions.

And this is a great one. I've just spoken to a top finance lawyer in town to get the answer. Here's what he tells me: If McCain takes the federal money for the general election (which he has said he will do) he AND his running mate must adhere to the restrictions that ensue, which include not spending their own fortunes on the campaign. If Sen. Obama opts out of the federal financing (which is his plan) and he chooses a wealthy running mate (probably not Romney!), they can spend as much of their fortunes as they want.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: To what extent are the campaigns and the national parties allowed to coordinate their spending? You say they have an equal amount of money taken together. Does that mean McCain can use the GOP's money? Or does that mean that the GOP independently can attack Obama?

Matthew Mosk: You raise a good point here, Arlington. The answer is that they cannot coordinate their spending. But that rule is somewhat easy to get around. By now, Sens. McCain and Obama have started to pack the leadership of the RNC and DNC with their own, hand-picked people, who can be trusted to run parallel campaigns that advance the cause of their respective candidates.

_______________________

Washington: Those who give less than $200 are not disclosed, but they are identified ... because it is $200 in the aggregate. A campaign must track who gives and how much in order to assure that it has followed the contribution disclosure and limits.

Matthew Mosk: Yes. You're right. They are identified internally, but not on reports, unless, in the aggregate, they go over the $200 threshold.

_______________________

College Park, Md.: Hi Matthew! We keep hearing about the massive amounts of fundraising that Obama has and the large advantage of this over McCain's campaign, and yet your opening says that he and McCain are even. Does that figure include monies from the respective national committees, or is McCain being just as effective a fundraiser? Thanks for helping to clarify this!

Matthew Mosk: Thanks for the question, College Park. You are right that Sen. Obama appears to have a hefty advantage over Sen. McCain when it comes to raising money for his own campaign committee. In June, Sen. Obama raised $52 million, while Sen. McCain raised $22 million. That difference is expected to grow more pronounced over the summer.

Where they are even, at least for now, is when you combine each campaign's funds with those of the RNC and DNC. The RNC has for months been out-raising the DNC. Now that the Democrats have a nominee, that could very well change. But as it stands, those figures combined left the two candidates with roughly even amounts as they entered July.

_______________________

Re: Obama and the troops: Yes, vets favor McCain ... but the current troops are mostly young people, and young people favor Obama.

Matthew Mosk: Hi there. I don't know if this is true or not. Our pollster, Jon Cohen, tells me it is very hard, if not impossible, to get a reliable poll of active duty troops since they're, well, not easy to get on the phone....

_______________________

Pass the Buck: When will the FEC address the status of McCain's primary finances? I assume they will reverse the finding by the previous FEC chair that McCain could not opt out without any action by the FEC. Meanwhile, McCain is exploiting a loophole in the rules to garner millions more than he would had he merely accepted public financing. Isn't Obama more constrained, as he has ruled out lobbyists and 527s?

Matthew Mosk: Phew... that's a lot you've packed in there, Pass the Buck. With respect to the FEC's lingering questions about Sen. McCain's decision to enter and then withdraw from the public financing system during the primaries, I think you are right to assume they will probably back away from that issue. But you never know. The FEC took a long hiatus while Congress was trying to hash out an agreement with the White House over its membership. The FEC now has a full, six-member panel to oversee operations there, and I would expect we'll hear a more formal answer to that question soon.

_______________________

Franconia, Va.: James Carville, in an early and welcome olive branch as the primary wound up, said he had his $2,300 check all made out to Obama and would send it off as soon as the nomination battle ended. Is there a way to find out if he sent it? If not, does that suggest the nomination battle goes on (in his mind) until the stadium acceptance speech, or what?

Matthew Mosk: Thanks Franconia.

The FEC records don't lie. James Carville wrote a $2,300 check to Barack Obama on June 19.

_______________________

Re: The Romney Question: You talk about the general election, but what if McCain named Romney tomorrow? Could Romney spend his own money between now and the GOP convention?

Matthew Mosk: Without calling another lawyer, I will take a chance here and say that I believe the answer to that is yes.

_______________________

Just Clarifying: You noted that all donations under $200 (where the filing process is less cumbersome) are recorded on the last day of the month, thus accounting for the $30 million supposedly obtained on that day, but actually just recorded then. Am I right that this means that more than half of the $52 million for June came from small donors? To those of us who give small, this would be very exciting.

A lot of the press coverage has suggested that Obama is finding that small donors won't carry him through, and is relying far more on the old deep-pockets crowd. I had found this enormously depressing, although I continued to donate $25 when I could. Your report suggests the opposite -- that money from small donors is still significant, and this past month was more than 50 percent of the total. Is that right? If so, yay!

Matthew Mosk: Hello Just Clarifying,

On your first point, you are right about more than half coming from small donors. In fact, 56.3 percent of Obama's money in June came from donors giving less than $200. By contrast, 40 percent of John McCain's June money came from donors giving $200 or less.

As for the press coverage, I will say that the reason for this is that Sen. Obama has done MUCH more big-dollar fundraising in June and July than he did during the closing months of the primary. In part, this makes scheduling sense. You don't want to be running from chicken dinners to cocktail receptions while you're in the final days of a tense campaign.

_______________________

Los Angeles: With so many contributions, how do the campaigns screen them to make sure they do not exceed legal limitations or are not from a prohibited (corporation, foreign, etc.) or undesirable donor?

Matthew Mosk: Thanks for this question. Los Angeles. Ever since Norman Hsu's past criminal conviction became an issue for Hillary Clinton, this has been a pressing question for campaigns. The answer is, they do the best they can, focusing more attention on top bundlers. I believe every campaign now uses computer software that sounds an alarm when a donor tries to give more than the legal limit, so they don't get caught in that trap. Also, donors are typically asked to vouch for their legal status, such as citizenship, when they give. I'm looking at an invitation to one upcoming presidential fundraiser that includes this line: "Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle."

_______________________

Chicago: Hey Matt, did you see only one reporter showed up to McCain's arrival in New Hampshire yesterday? If McCain loses his base (the media) isn't he doomed?

Matthew Mosk: Ok. Sorry for the pause Chicago. I was just checking with our McCain team about this. They tell me that numerous reporters are traveling with McCain. It's possible you saw him at an event that was "pooled," meaning that a limited number of reporters were allowed to be with him for a certain event. But most major media outlets, including the Post, had a report traveling with Sen. McCain yesterday.

_______________________

Anonymous: Where are Hillary's wealthy "friends," Corzine for one, when it comes to helping her retire her campaign debt?

Matthew Mosk: Hi there,

There is a simple reason for this: they can't. Everyone is required to remain within the campaign giving limits, even when it comes to retiring a debt. (Otherwise, candidates would run up huge debts and then just have their rich friends pay all the bills!) Corzine can give her $2,300 out of his own pocket. And in fact, he did just that, on June 30, 2007.

_______________________

Financing and Spending: So we're wondering -- is Obama's trip considered a fact-finding trip like other senators do from time to time, or is this financed by his campaign? Or a little of both?

Matthew Mosk: Good question. The first portion of Sen. Obama's trip, including the Iraq visit, were considered to be official government travel, paid for by the taxpayers. (Sen. McCain's recent foreign trip was, too.) Beginning with his stop this morning in Jordan, though, it became a campaign trip. My colleague Dan Balz reports that the difference is quite clear to those traveling with Sen. Obama. For instance, embassy staff that helps coordinate trips for government officials are visible and deeply involved in the government portion of the trip. But they vanished as soon as it became a campaign trip.

_______________________

Prescott, Ariz.: Well, we had thought the long national nightmare was over ... until yesterday, when an "activist" court threw out the "nipplegate" fine. I had finally started sleeping again; the brazen 9/16th of a second image of Janet Jackson's nipple slowly had subsided in my mind's eye. Now it is all triggered again -- the nightmares, cold sweats ... you get the picture.

I remember the initial event rocked the nation's capital pretty hard. You wags and pundits couldn't stop obsessing about the event, perhaps even more so than those of us here in "flyover country." So how's this going over there in the Village? I checked the news and I didn't hear about any riots or civil unrest, but you know how spotty our information is here in the hinterlands. Is there word of any pending congressional investigations? Have any of my favorite protectors of America's decency and innocence, such as Larry Craig or David Vitter, issued scathing reprisals of this travesty of justice?

washingtonpost.com: Super Bowl Fine Is Voided (Post, July 22)

Matthew Mosk: I thought this question (from nearby GOP nominee John McCain's hometown) would be a good one to end things on... why, after all, should we wind things up on a high note?

Thanks for all the great questions today!

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.