Drudge Smear: JOHN EDWARDS UNLEASHED: BREAKS SPENDING RULES

[rodbarnett]

JOHN EDWARDS UNLEASHED: BREAKS SPENDING RULES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE In applying for federal matching funds to help finance his campaign, Dem presidential hopeful John Edwards pledged to adhere to "spending caps" in a letter to the FEC. "As a candidate seeking to become eligible to receive Presidential primary matching funds, I agree to the following provisions ... I and/or my authorized committee(s) certify that we have not incurred and will not incur qualified campaign expenditures in connection with my campaign for nomination in excess of the expenditure limitations prescribed by ." http://www.fec.gov/finance/2004matching/edwards_docs_001.pdf But through January 20, 2004, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned, Edwards has spent $950,915 in New Hampshire -- already busting the state's "spending cap by over $220,000! MORE Senator Edwards has also spent $682,517 on ads in Boston, bringing his total ad spending aimed at New Hampshire audiences to $1,633,432 more than double the New Hampshire state spending limit.

http://www.drudgereport.com/mattje1.htm

comment: Is this PFA or is it on the level?

[sallyseven]

1. Just remember there are very few newspapers in NH.

Most people in sourthern NH read and comute to Mass. I don't get their point.

[Fleshdancer]

2. I prefer not to believe drudge unless he has a link to his story

aside from that, welcome to the race Edwards fans. It only gets worse from here.

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. I might believe this

if I see a reputable news source report it. If there are any left! :grr:
Drudge is SLUDGE!

Go, Wes!

[Renew Deal]

4. This is crap

1st, where did Drudge get his numbers from?

2nd, the caps are bullshit anyway. You go over and you get fined. It's not really much of a punishment. I think Gore went way over last time in the GE. He payed like a $30,000 fine and it was over with.

3rd, Dean is going all out there according to the NYT. Kerry is also not holding back. Edwards (and others) need to play the game.

I am for campaign finance reform, but everyone needs to play by those rules. If you have guys like Dean, Kerry, and Bush using insane bankrolls, you have to do what you can to compete. I consider what those 3 are doing worse than what Edwards might have done.

[dsc]

6. I am asking, not assuming here, but

what was your opinion when Dean announced he wouldn't accept matching funds? I know he took a lot of grief over this very issue (spending caps). If you were quiet then, then fine. But, if you weren't, what is the difference?

[Renew Deal]

8. I am not saying this is Dean's fault all together.

This is a problem with the system. Once one guy breaks it (Bush), then the rest need to do something to compensate. In Dean's case he is foregoing the system. Then Kerry did too. The others? What do they do? They do the best they can to play within the rules. I will tell you this, if Edwards is over, I bet he isn't the only one. Lieberman is throwing almost everything into NH. Clark has run a ton of ads there.

[LuminousX]

5. I'll wait for a more reliable, less shrill source

[WI_DEM]

7. who knows if it is true or not

I know some people will use Drudge if it suits their purposes on DU.

[TexasSissy]

9. Drudge is rarely correct. Why would you think this story would be?

You're obviously not an Edwards supporter. Neither am I, but come on. Trying to spread a Drudge report as truth about a candidate, framing it to imitate an innocent "Oh, could this be true" post is unfair to the candidate and his supporters.

I think I can guess who you support.

[tryanhas]

10. The guy from MSNBC

A couple of months ago, the guy from MSNBC was talking about how much each of the campaigns were spending and what not.

He said that there are ways in which they can spend more than the limits WITHOUT BREAKING THE RULES, although they are in the campaign finance system.

IN FACT, if I remember correctly, the guy said that one of the ways they could do that was to USE OTHER MARKETS, like the Boston Market because they wouldn't be directly spending in NH, but we shall see.

Drudge is just trying his best to find something...

[semass]

11. Nothing new about Boston spending...

Whenever there has been a Massachusetts candidate in the New Hampshire primary most candidates spend on Boston media "prior" to the New Hampshire primary even though the Massachusetts primary really wasn't the one being contested.

[bluedeminredstate]

12. Boston spending is a must in NH

Half the state gets their television from Boston. Growing up in NH we had one TV station and the rest were from Boston. All three networks have Boston affiliates, which is not the case in NH.

[anti-bush]

13. Drudge knows nothing...

http://www.politicsnh.com/sigel/11_6.shtml

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The federal spending cap structure may be one of the least understood aspects of the New Hampshire primary. That’s partly because the cap isn’t absolute, but limits only certain categories of spending. Campaigns can spend a lot of money here, as long as they manage their spending within the cap structure.

The federal spending cap for New Hampshire is approximately $700,000 – modest, at first blush. Each campaign is then allowed a “fundraising exemption,” which effectively doubles the cap to around $1.4 million.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Under the federal rules, major spending categories are exempt, or partially exempt, from the cap. For example:



* Media. A campaign’s biggest cost, by far, is TV advertising. According to the Federal Election Commission media costs are allocated based on the percentage of households within a state that comprise a station’s viewership. Thus, only around 15 percent of money spent on Boston TV counts against the cap. For example, a campaign could spend $2 million on Boston TV, but only $300,000 would count against the New Hampshire cap.



* Salaries for campaign staff. Hiring a talented staff and mounting a big, statewide field operation is expensive. An early starting, well-staffed New Hampshire campaign could easily exceed $500,000 in payroll and benefits costs. These costs do not count toward the cap.



* Direct mail. Mass mailings sent prior to the last four weeks of the campaign don’t count toward the cap. A simple, two-sided mail piece to 100,000 households costs around $50,000, and a fancy, multi-page pamphlet costs lots more. A campaign might do 5-10 cycles of mail to various targeted voters.



Managing to these and other exemptions, top-spending New Hampshire campaigns could easily exceed the $5 million mark, all within the cap.

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Longish, but you get the idea.