Obama Hold Source of McCain's Money Woes

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign finds itself in something of a catch-22. Last summer, when the campaign was not going well and McCain was thought to be finished as a candidate, he agreed to accept Federal matching funds. That was a sign that the Senator could not raise money and might soon drop out of the race. But now that his fortunes have turned, and his campaign coffers have filled, McCain wants to forego Federal funds and the spending limits that go along with them. But the Federal Election Commission, and Democrats, is balking at the campaign's plans.

FEC Chairman David Mason has laid out a set of conditions that the McCain campaign must meet in order to qualify for a withdrawal from the Federal financing system. The trouble for McCain is that the conditions are impossible to meet because the FEC itself cannot meet them. The commission is short of members and cannot achieve a quorum in order to take action on any campaign's requests. Four of the six seats on the commission are the subjects of holds in the Senate. A Senator may block action in the Senate on a bill or a nomination by placing a hold on it until his concerns about the action are addressed. Republicans placed three of the holds in retaliation for a Democratic hold on Hans von Spakovsky over allegations that the nominee was insensitive to minority voting rights. The Democratic Senator who placed the hold that is now holding up McCain's financing is none other than McCain's potential general election opponent, Sen. Barack Obama.

Obama placed the hold on von Spakovsky's nomination in October of last year, when his campaign's fortunes did not look as good as they do now, and when he was coming under criticism about his civil rights credentials. The hold, placed together with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), was explained as a reaction to certain controversial decisions that von Spakovsky, a lawyer in the Justice Department's Voting Rights section, had made. Von Spakovsky was seen as a champion of policies, such as a Georgia voter identification law and a Texas redistricting plan, that would disenfranchise black and Latino voters respectively. Both the Georgia law and the Texas redistricting were eventually upheld by the Federal courts.

Commission Chairman Mason has told the McCain campaign that in order to opt out of Federal financing, his campaign must answer questions about a loan the campaign obtained that is at least partially backed by his ability to receive Federal matching funds; and the campaign must convince four of the six commission members to approve the plan. But that last condition cannot be met thanks in part to the hold on von Spakovsky, which has stalled all Senate action on FEC nominees.

The impact on the McCain campaign is potentially very serious. If the hold on von Spakovsky is not lifted, or if the Senate does not move to confirm the other nominees, thereby filling the commission's open seats, McCain will be limited to spending about $54 million during the primary campaign, which lasts until the Republican convention in early September. His campaign is believed to have already spent about $50 million in the primary. McCain would essentially have to go dark, not spending on advertising, for the next six months until the general election campaign starts. That is valuable time that he could be using to unify the shaky Republican coalition or begin his line of attack against his Democratic opponent. While Republicans would almost certainly release their holds if the hold on von Spakovsky is dropped, it is doubtful that Sen. Barack Obama, now the likely Democratic nominee, will release the hold that would unleash his opponent's ability to campaign against him.