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Lobbyists and public relations practitioners such as Pat Cleary are using social networking in their advocacy. Sites like 'Facebook' and 'Twitter' offer advantages such as their ability to create buzz, spread messages easily, and is cheap to set up. The trend is seen as an emulation of President Barack Obama's successful use of social networking in his campaign.

AS THE FIRST WOMEN TO HEAD THE DEMOCRATS' CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES ON CAPITOL HILL, PATTY MURRAY AND NITA LOWEY EACH HAS SET OUT TO PROVE SHE CAN RAISE AS MUCH MONEY […]

Lucky Princeton University Press. Its Unfree Speech hit the streets just a few days before the Senate took up and approved a campaign finance law that was the handiwork of […]

Much has been made of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay's warning that he'll "try anything" to block new election laws that, in his view, stifle free speech. But the forceful […]

ON THE EVE OF THE SENATE'S CAMPAIGN FINANCE OVERHAUL DEBATE, PRO-REFORM GROUPS LACK A UNIFIED STRATEGY. CAN THEY COME TOGETHER, OR WILL THEIR DIFFERENCES HELP SINK A 'SOFT-MONEY' BAN? Ask […]

When Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., let it slip last month on a television talk show that he didn't plan to filibuster campaign finance reform legislation on the Senate floor this […]

Sen.-elect Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., was not the star of the Dec. 6 dog-and-pony show hosted by Senate Democrats to introduce their nine newly elected members. That honor went to Sen.-elect […]

THE SENATE RACE IN DELAWARE WAS A CASE STUDY IN THIS YEAR'S RECORD-BREAKING SPENDING ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS. Nobody is haggling over the number of people who elected Gov. Thomas R. […]

REPUBLICANS HAVE A SMALLER HOUSE MAJORITY--AND BIG HEADACHES. Having survived a costly and grueling fight to stay in power, House Republicans can perhaps afford to gloat. After all, this is […]

SOME LAWMAKERS ARE CLASHING WITH THEIR PARTIES OVER HOW TO RAISE AND SPEND MONEY AND HOW TO RUN THEIR CAMPAIGNS. As a House member who does not accept political action […]

ABORTION BUSH SUMMARY Consistently opposes abortion. PUBLIC FUNDING Opposes the use of public funds to provide or to advocate abortions. Can be expected to cut federal funds for domestic family-planning […]

TOM DELAY HAS LOST A FEW BATTLES IN RECENT WEEKS. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, is generally thought to deserve his nickname, The Hammer, but lately the House majority whip has […]

CONGRESS IS SUDDENLY CRACKING DOWN ON SECRET POLITICAL GROUPS. BUT WILL NEW DISCLOSURE LAWS STICK? AND WILL THEY HELP? When New Jersey Republican Tom Kean Jr. decided to run for […]

Just like the summer tourists who predictably clog the Capitol's corridors every year, campaign finance reform is back yet again. This time, reform legislation has returned to the Senate's agenda, […]

An explosion of political money that has shattered all records may leave this year's House and Senate candidates with more in their pockets than they even know what to do […]

IN THE PAST TWO ELECTIONS, LABOR REGAINED ITS STATUS AS A POLITICAL POWERHOUSE. BUT WILL THE UNIONS REMAIN UNITED FOR 2000? When Vice President Al Gore met with labor leaders […]

House members who back campaign finance changes have long endorsed strengthening the Federal Election Commission. But these reform advocates now find themselves in the awkward position of opposing a package […]

In theory, advocates of changing the nation's campaign finance laws should be pleased with the recent signs of movement in the Senate. Spurred on by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an […]

MEGABUCKS Former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander has blasted George W. Bush as "the Texas tornado sucking away money." Multi-millionaire Steve Forbes has cast Bush as a lackey to "lobbyists" and […]

Republican glee over the Senate's recent approval of a conservative patient protection bill may soon give way to a headache. As the emotionally charged issue of managed care reform moves […]

AS THE SENATE DEMOCRATS' CHIEF CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST, THE HARD-CHARGING BOB TORRICELLI IS PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS. Vice President Al Gore had big plans for a major fund-raiser in New […]

EVERY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE KNOWS: IT'S THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, STUPID. When Bob Dole accepted the Republican presidential nomination at his party's convention in August 1996, he had scathing words for the […]

The comment by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., on May 18 seemed straightforward enough: Hastert supported raising the legal age for gun possession from 18 to 21. But it […]

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., usually has a lot to say about campaign finance reform, but these days, he's grown awfully quiet. His reticence is surprising--even puzzling--given how much angry talk […]

In 1985, a bipartisan commission set up to study presidential campaign laws reached this rosy conclusion: "Public financing of presidential elections has clearly proved its worth in opening up the […]

Atlanta businessman Michael A. Leven wasn't surprised when he got a call from his good friend Jonathan M. Tisch asking him to help raise money for Al Gore's presidential bid. […]

Call them George W.'s secret weapons on K Street. More than a dozen trade association leaders are assiduously working their industries to raise big bucks for Texas Gov. Bush. A […]

The public declaration of Democratic efforts towards urgent lobbying and ethics reforms is quite different from the private debate on the issue. The practical difficulties in implementing the reforms have also led to the suggestion of forming a bipartisan commission to examine the concept, thus presenting a challenge for incoming Democratic leaders to reconcile their public promises with lawmakers' private complaints and suggestions on the reforms.

Senate Finanace Political Committee Chairman Charles Grassley has won the panel's unanimous approval for a bill that would crack down on tax-exempt organizations that engage in illegal political activity by doubling the existing fines and penalties on overly political nonprofits. The Bill was considered as a follow-up action to a Senate report detailing the use of multiple tax-exempt organizations by non-profit groups connected to Jack Abramoff as conduits to finance his illegal political activists.

The House and Senate GOP leaders have won the approval for lobbying and ethics changes, but the legislation is still in trouble as it is heading towards the conference committee. Pro-reform activist groups have dismissed the legislation as weak and ineffectual and several controversial provisions that have angered both Democrats and Republicans could derail the package.

Call it Feingold's last stand. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., has decided to stake his entire political career on the premise that voters will reward him for running a clean campaign, […]

LAWMAKERS WHO SIT ON THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ARE SETTLING INTO THEIR ROLES FOR THE BIGGEST POLITICAL PERFORMANCE THEY'LL EVER GIVE. For members of the House Judiciary Committee, the defining […]

THE DOCTOR'S LOBBY IS STRUGGLING TO RECRUIT MEMBERS AND RETAIN ITS STATUS AS A WASHINGTON POWERHOUSE. During 20 years as a doctor, Stephanie Joan Woolhandler has received a steady stream […]

JANET RENO MAY SEEK AN INDEPENDENT COUNSEL TO INVESTIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE PRACTICES. DEMOCRATS ARE WORRIED, AND FOR GOOD REASON. Is this, finally, the point of no return for Attorney General […]

Despite all the excitement it generated on Capitol Hill this summer, "patient protection" legislation may actually be losing its punch as an election issue. After sailing through the House, in […]

Just when it seemed that voters couldn't care less about campaign finance reform, political money controversies suddenly grabbed center stage on Capitol Hill. Attorney General Janet Reno's investigation into alleged […]

CAPITOL HILL DEMOCRATS CAN NO LONGER BE COUNTED ON TO CONSISTENTLY SUPPORT A WOMAN'S "RIGHT TO CHOOSE." A GROWING NUMBER OF THEIR RANKS ARE JOINING WITH REPUBLICANS TO CAST DECIDING […]

A controversy was presented before the Federal Election Commission(FEC) regarding the infringement of campaign finance laws by spending illegal money by supporting, nonparty organizations called 527 groups. The FEC was under pressure from various fronts to produce a draft, advisory opinion or rules for nonparty groups at the February 18 2003 meeting.

An overview is presented on the dispute between the Federal Election Commission and legislators sponsoring campaign finance reform over rules to implement the reforms. Legislators are wary that the FEC rules have been written in such a way that they will continue to allow national parties to raise soft money.

Congressional aide Jedd Moskowitz has bounced between several unconventional work stations lately, including a card table on the plaza outside the Capitol building, a rented minivan, and a carpeted cubicle [...]

The Cincinnati Enquirer has been around for 152 years, but its image has changed dramatically in the past 18 months. It's not just the paper's sparkling new offices, or its […]

Members of Congress face much laxer ethics rules than many of their counterparts in state legislatures, mainly due to the allowed self-policing practices on Capitol Hill. Several states are far ahead of Congress in this issue, since they have assigned the job of enforcing ethics laws to an independent commission, board or office, which avoids the possibilities of compromise and confusion that are likely in Congress.

The lobbyists have greatest influence on the money-in-politics process derived from hosting fundraisers and bundling the checks they collect from their clients, although these K Street firms also make their own direct political contributions to congressional candidates in a form of unscrutinized 'in house' bundling . The top firms in Washington act as mega-PACs, rounding up checks from every lobbyist on the payroll, and in the year 2003-04 election cycle, lobbyists donated more than $22 million to federal candidates.