McCain Urges GOP Rivals to Back ‘Soft Money’ Ban

WASHINGTON —  Sen. John McCain, acknowledging Wednesday that he needs “all the help we can get,” asked his Republican presidential rivals to push for Senate passage of his legislation banning unlimited “soft money” donations to political parties.

The Arizona senator had a special request for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the GOP front-runner.

“If even half of the members of Congress who endorsed your candidacy were to honor your request, [the soft money ban] would pass with votes to spare,” McCain wrote to the governor.

The response from the Bush camp was cool.

“Like thousands of other Americans who write to us, we’re glad he recognizes Gov. Bush’s leadership and ability to lead,” Bush spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said, declining to elaborate on whether Bush would support McCain’s bill.

Bush believes individuals should be able to make unlimited donations to political parties but corporations and unions should not, “because shareholders and union members don’t have any say in how that money is spent,” Tucker said.

The soft money ban was proposed by McCain and Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.).

Soft money originally was used by political parties for party-building and get-out-the-vote efforts but is increasingly used for “issue advertising” designed to sway an election. McCain says soft money has become a way for corporations and unions to get around bans on direct donations to candidates and for individuals to circumvent the $1,000 contribution cap.