John King: Campaign finance reform and other politics this week

CNN Moderator: Good morning John King. The Senate begins campaign finance reform debates. How far apart are the president and Senator John McCain on this issue and what are the major differences between them?

John King: They are apart both on timing and substance. The president would prefer this debate not happen now -- he wanted the focus on his agenda and on the substance. Mr. Bush does not favor an outright ban on soft money as Senator McCain does. The president would allow individuals to give unregulated contributions but ban "soft money" from labor unions and corporations; McCain would ban all so-called soft money. Mr. Bush also wants a requirement that every union member have to sign a card giving the union permission to uses dues for political purposes; McCain says he personally supports that but to include it in his bill would doom it because most Democrats do not support that.

CNN Moderator: Who are other major players who might have significant impact in how a campaign finance reform bill takes shape?

MESSAGE BOARDS Campaign Finance Reform Sub collision    VIDEO McCain spoke with CNN about the issue Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Major Garrett says the White House fears the fight over campaign finance reform will be distracting Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Jonathan Karl says the fight over soft money is making foes out of friends Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

John King: The most important player in the Senate over the years has been Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He will be the Republican floor leader on the issue and is a vehement opponent of McCain-Feingold. And Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader, also faces a challenge: many Democrats who in reality are skeptical, if not outright opposed to McCain-Feingold, said they were for it when it appeared. It would never come up for a vote; now that the issue is on the Senate floor there is all sorts of maneuvering to kill the bill with unacceptable amendments, and Senator Daschle will have a tough time keeping discipline in the ranks.

Question from chat room: Besides "soft money," who would lose out more from the banning of corporations and unions?

John King: Well corporations give millions to the Republicans and labor millions to the Democrats. Corporations more in total. The Democrats, however, are very

reliant on the labor money for things like voter registration and turnout as well. So as important as the soft money debate, the so called "paycheck protection" --

requiring union members to give permission in advance -- is perhaps an even bigger threat to the Democrats because if labor has less to spend on politics, there would be less to spend on phone banks and leafleting and mailing and the "little" things that in the end add up to voter registration and turnout.

Question from chat room: What are the chances that these campaign finance bills might be challenged on First Amendment grounds?

John King: It is a virtual certainty that if McCain-Feingold or anything close passed that there would be a court challenge immediately, possibly from one of the major parties. They would argue that the measure restricts free speech. There were challenges in the years after the post Watergate reforms as well, which is what led to the soft money loophole to begin with -- a search from interested parties for a way to spend money that was NOT regulated by the new law.

Question from chat room: Mr. Bush's breaking his campaign promise to limit CO2 emissions... is that something that may hurt him politically or is it seen as a "less" important?

John King: It has certainly invigorated environmental groups and the president's critics in Congress. But the White House does not believe it will be an issue that

means lasting damage to the president. The potential problem in the view of many Republicans is not so much CO2, but if there are more broken promises, then critics will say the president, who ran on the theme of trust, cannot be trusted. But this is the only major promise so far in which he has veered from what he said in the campaign.

Question from chat room: Mr. King I read today that most of the email our congressmen get goes unread and unanswered. I am wondering why?

John King: Well I am not an authority on this issue, but I do know that more and more members of Congress complain that they get "organized" emails – meaning complaints or pressure generated by interest groups and that they try to answer mail that is clearly from their constituents first. But part of it also is the new culture --many of these members came to office when computers and email were not such a part of our daily lives.

Question from chat room: Do you think NRA contributions have anything to do with Bush's reluctance to take on gun violence as an issue, even as more children are dying from guns at schools?

John King: Well critics suggest that, but the White House says no. The administration says it should be no secret given the campaign debate on this issue that the president does not believe more gun control is the answer. He did come out in favor of trigger locks but has said for the most part he believes better enforcement of existing laws and more careful parents are the best solutions. He is being criticized by some gun-control advocates for that.

CNN Moderator: Some analysts say that President Bush's meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Mori is little more than a "courtesy call" since Mori may be resigning in a month. What is on their agenda today and is anything substantive likely to result from the meeting?

John King: They will have a short-term statement on trying to improve economic cooperation and coordination. The United States will agree to tolerate a weak yen for now in hopes it helps Japan rebound economically. And Prime Minister Mori will promise to do more to deregulate and open Japan's economy. Whether he can keep his promises is a subject of debate within the U.S. administration since Mr. Mori likely will be gone in a month or so. But his successor is most likely to come from the same liberal democratic party and many of the senior Japanese officials traveling with him are likely to have major roles in any new government. So the U.S. view is that the relationship is too important to wait for a new prime minister -- and the recent economic problems here in the U.S. have only reinforced the sense of urgency even though Mr. Mori is considered a lame duck.

Question from chat room: Is Prime Minister Mori going to request that we raise the sunken Japanese vessel in Hawaii?

John King: I don't know if he will raise it directly, but the request certainly has been made by his government. The U.S. position to date has been that such an operation would be too expensive and too risky and that there is no guarantee the bodies of the nine Japanese still unaccounted for and presumed dead would be found.

CNN Moderator: What else is on the president's calendar this week?

John King: it is a busy week. Prime Minister Sharon of Israel meets with the president Tuesday; Deputy Chinese Premier Gian Qichen on Thursday; and he is of course monitoring the campaign finance and tax cut debates as well as the expected fed decision Tuesday on interest rates. Also, he travels Wednesday and Friday to promote his domestic agenda health care is the focus. Wednesday in Olando; taxes on Friday in Maine. So a busy week!

CNN Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, John King. Look forward to talking with you next week.

John King: My pleasure. I look forward to it. Take care .

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Senate braces for campaign finance reform debate
March 19, 2001