Tennessee Insurance

On March 20 Texas businessman John Flavin was Lamar Alexander’s Political Action Committee $ 5000, the law limits maximum allowed. The same day, Flavin wrote a check for $ 50000 another unit Alexander - Tennessee’s Political Action Committee, which is to accept unlimited donations allows.

Alexander’s PACS, which have more than $ 1 million so far this year, then paid for a number of activities, read as a “roadmap” for a young person of the presidential race Alexandre of polling in ‘Iowa and New Hampshire to a party for Hummer in 1300 in New Hampshire, last August.

Potential presidential candidates since Ronald Reagan have used political action as a start-committees to pad their presidential campaigns. Alexander’s approach of using the Confederation and the countries of the CAP gives a new technology Twist - which allow for money to far greater flea market of the Confederation as a contribution borders and, basically, due in part to finance his campaign non-embryonic soft money.

But Alexander, a former Tennessee governor, education secretary and GOP candidates successful in the year 1996, it is quite alone in the penalty, which Colby College political scientist Anthony Corrado demand “for the pre-campaign campaign” . Three years before the next presidential election, aspiring contenders are already in the labour market, a number of possibilities for financing their campaigns and embryonic, political and financial base for the event itself.

With GOP accountant Stan Huckaby prediction, that candidates need $ 22 million for the start of the election year to have a real shot on the appointment, many in the class of aspiring presidents are already wooing ranchers Reference and filling Their Direct Mail-lists for a presidential bid.

“The political fundraising - how much and how fast - drive, the GOP nomination in 1998 and 1999,” said Scott Reed, former head of the presidential campaign of 1996 candidates, J. Robert Dole. “It’s the first real cut in the event of separation of men from the boys.”

In addition, on the advantages presidential before - but employs a technique distinguishes itself by Alexander’s - 1996 is his GOP rival, Malcolm S. “Steve” Forbes, spent 37 million dollars of his own money into the race. Well, Forbes has a “problem Advocacy organization, Americans for Hope, Growth and Opportunity (AHGO), with $ 100000 of its own means, but also building a vast network of financial supporters.

The group has about 3 million dollars this year from 75000 contributors, including through direct advertising, which Forbes something that is not in the Kampagne’96 - A donor base could help finance d ‘ a presidential campaign.

This year, spent AHGO approximately $ 500000 on television, radio and print ads on issues like abortion, school choice, assisted suicide, drug trafficking legalization of the Flat Tax and auto insurance.

Forbes also strategic in recent contributions to it prominently with conservative Christians, a constituency he was skeptical of Forbes in 1996. Forbes Group has bought a table for $ 2000 at a dinner fundraiser in the last month for Robertson School of Government to honour the former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed.

There were also 10,000 dollars to the Catholic Alliance, a spin-off of the Christian Coalition, that the media campaign on “partial birth” abortion last March. If Forbes highlighted social issues in the Heritage Foundation last month, president of the Catholic Alliance Keith A. Fournier frequently praised what he sees as “wonderful speech.

The group is organized as a nonprofit company in New Jersey, but still no tax relief. Its chairman, William Dal Col, said the group is to disclose the names of their donors, if it is not legally required to do so.

Most other potential candidates, the Pac-road.

Among the rules of the federal election, presidential candidates $ 1000 contributions and - if they want to get the Confederation matching funds - must move from promises not exceed a certain amount. It was $ 37 million in 1996, the amount is not yet in 2000.

But to announce his candidacy and money to start the presidential campaign, candidates can fly across the country, rent and staff advisers and develop programmes fundraising by their PACS. Even better, they throw money into blocks of up to $ 5000 and did not count against spending presidential borders. And candidate countries “may be PAC spent millions of dollars of donor lists - then sell the names of the candidates campaigning for a fraction of the cost.

Corrado calls the CAP device “, one of the largest gaps in the presidential campaign of appointment.”

“This PAC are nothing other than the shadow of the campaign organizations,” said Corrado. “They are actually a way, a presidential campaign without rules and spending limits contribution.