The Honorable John S. McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215


Dear Senator McCain,

Amid news reports that your campaign has set up a joint fundraising account to benefit your campaign, the Republican National Committee, and up to four separate state Republican parties, we renew our April 8, 2008 request that you cosponsor bipartisan legislation to fix the presidential public financing system and establish a public financing law for congressional races.

This joint fundraising committee, called McCain Victory ’08 Fund, will allow your campaign to accept contributions as large as $70,000, according to the New York Times – an amount that is far in excess of contribution limits for candidates and political parties put in place by your own campaign finance law, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, also known as McCain-Feingold. Your willingness to evade the spirit of McCain-Feingold sets a poor precedent for whomever the Democratic Party nominates as your general election opponent. It also sends a signal that your campaign is less serious about the importance of participating in the public financing system in the general. Indeed, even if you were to participate, you and your campaign are exploiting a loophole and will be still be courting wealthy donors who could donate tens of thousands to the McCain Victory ’08 Fund.

You and your campaign will describe this activity as legally sound. But that does not make it right.

However, we have said repeatedly over the past several weeks that candidates will fund their presidential campaigns in a way that is consistent with the strategic goal of winning, not reforming the political system. On April 8, 2008, we wrote to you to urge you to pursue a real reform agenda that makes passage of full public financing for all federal races a priority if you are elected. We are still awaiting your reply. In the meantime, you can immediately demonstrate your commitment to comprehensive reform by cosponsoring S. 1285, the Fair Elections Now Act, and S. 2412, the Presidential Funding Act.

Sincerely,

David Donnelly
National Campaigns Director