McCain Risks Damage From His Own Campaign Finance Laws

From the "no good deed goes unpunished" file, John McCain's infamous McCain-Feingold campaign finance law is wreaking havoc with his own campaign, and the Dems are seeking to make an issue of it:

WASHINGTON - The national Democratic party wants campaign finance regulators to investigate whether Sen. John McCain would violate money-in-politics laws by withdrawing from the primary election's public finance system.

McCain, who had been entitled to $5.8 million in federal funds for the primary, has decided to bypass the system so he can avoid spending limits between now and the GOP's national convention in September.

Federal Election Commission Chairman David Mason notified McCain last week that he can only withdraw from public financing if he answers questions about a campaign loan and obtains approval from four members of the six-member commission. Such approval is doubtful in the short term because the commission has four vacancies and cannot convene a quorum.

"John McCain poses as a reformer but seems to think reforms apply to everyone but him," Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Sunday.

he DNC said it plans to formally seek an FEC investigation Monday.

As usual Howard the Donkey is overplaying his hand, especially given his own efforts to do pretty much the same thing in 2004:

McCain and Potter have said he was entitled to withdraw without FEC approval and have cited as examples Dean and Democrat Dick Gephardt, both of whom withdrew from public financing during the 2004 presidential primary.

"Howard Dean's hypocrisy is breathtaking, given that in 2003 he withdrew from the matching funds system in exactly the same way John McCain is doing today," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said Sunday.

The bottom line - it's not about punishing McCain for his ill-advised campaign finance law, but about crippling his ability to campaign between now and the convention this summer:

If McCain were prohibited from withdrawing from public financing, he would be severely limited in his campaign spending for the next six months. Under campaign finance rules, he would be allowed to spend only $54 million; as of the end of January, his campaign had already spent nearly $50 million.

There is something deliciously ironic about McCain running into problems due to his campaign finance law which basically imposed restrictions on free political speech. It wouldn't bother me that much if he ended up stuck with no money for the next six months.