REFORMERS HIT. CBS. “But now, with McCain facing a tougher-than-expected re-election and Feingold seeking to win back the seat he lost six years ago, the authors of McCain-Feingold are benefiting from the same sources of funding they once scorned.”
FOREIGN LOBBYING CHATTER. CBS. “Clinton National Finance Director Dennis Cheng wrote in April that the campaign needed to make a policy decision on whether to allow those lobbying on behalf of foreign governments to raise money for the Clinton campaign. After some debate, campaign manager Robby Mook responded that he was ‘OK just taking the money and dealing with any attacks.’ Jennifer Palmieri agreed: ‘Take the money!!””
SUPER PAC TKU. WFB. “Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta personally thanked high-dollar donors to a Democratic Super PAC with which the campaign is legally prohibited from coordinating, according internal campaign memos.”
NEWSPAPERS AND THE LAW. BEZ. “One of several startup newspapers tied to a conservative Illinois activist is being challenged as political campaign material in a complaint before the Federal Election Commission.”
LOBBYISTS RAISE. WP. “Between July and September, lobbyists bundled nearly $11 million for the Clinton campaign and the Hillary Victory Fund, the campaign’s joint fundraising committee with the Democratic National Committee, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. That marks a sharp uptick from the roughly $2.7 million that lobbyists bundled during the second quarter and the $1.8 million they bundled during the first quarter of 2016.”
WHO’S BANKROLLING? CST. “The biggest individual Democratic donors in Illinois have joined with pro-Democratic unions to pump jumbo dollars into a new super PAC to punch at Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.”
VIDEO GAME ADVOCACY. TECH. “A new Anti-Trump billboard from The Nuisance Committee has been spotted in Florida, and it makes the claim that Trump ‘Mains Hanzo And Complains About Team Comp In Chat’ while depicting a caricature of Trump yelling at a computer screen.”
SUPER PAC HAUL. WP. “The super PAC working to protect the Republican House majority is ballooning with money from mega-donors determined to keep Paul D. Ryan as speaker, scooping up a record $31.3 million last quarter, officials told The Washington Post.”
FEC MOVER AND SHAKER. WE. “The Federal Election Commission member who sought to regulate online political speech is a top candidate under consideration by California Gov. Jerry Brown for a possible appointment as state attorney general, according to experts in the state and in Washington, D.C.”
CA: GOOGLE FLOOD. SFE. “Tech and real estate leaders are spending big on two supervisor races in an attempt to strengthen their hold on San Francisco policy decisions ranging from tech shuttles to affordable housing.”
MA: FOCUS ON ETHICS. WT. “House Speaker Robert DeLeo is pushing for a special panel to review ethical guidelines for public officials in Massachusetts.”
MI: LIMITS IN BILL. WMUK. “The amount of money candidates in Michigan can get from special interest groups could get cut in half. That’s if a proposed bill finds its way through the legislature.”
TN: LOBBYIST REGISTERS. TN. “The day after The Tennessean published an August investigation into the activities of Mark Cate, Gov. Bill Haslam’s former chief of staff, Cate registered with the state as a lobbyist.”
TX: MAIL ISSUE. AM. “The outspoken conservative possibly broke city campaign rules, the commission decided Wednesday, when he failed to include the following disclaimer on a mailer he sent to voters in his Northwest Austin district: ‘This campaign has not agreed to comply with the contribution and expenditure limits of the Austin Fair Campaign Chapter.'”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.