Outside Money: Soft Money and Issue Advocacy in the 1998 Congressional ElectionsDavid B. Magleby What do you do if you're running for office and all of a sudden, a flood of campaign attack ads inundates you from sources unknown, unregulated, and with seemingly unlimited funding? Even supportive ads from such sources of "outside money" can be problematic, as several Republican congressional candidates discovered the hard way during the "Operation Breakout" party soft money campaign against President Clinton during the 1998 election. Outside Money describes the nature and effect of such phenomena using information based on field research in 16 competitive congressional races, elite interviews with candidates and funders, and a network of campaign consultants and professional staffers. Offering the first systematic examination of the full range of campaign communications by interest groups (from direct mail to Internet) along with its analysis of soft money strategies and effects, Outside Money illustrates the shift to the "ground war" by parties and groups in 1998 and the relative success of issue-oriented Democratic strategies compared to character attacks by the Republicans. Election year 2000 is certain to contribute its own chapter to this story of the power of outside money in campaigns, and the challenge to electoral democracy it poses. |
Contents
The Expanded Role of Interest Groups and Political Parties in Competitive US Congressional Elections | 1 |
The Surge in Party Money in Competitive 1998 Congressional Elections | 17 |
InterestGroup Election Ads | 41 |
Outside Money and the Ground War in 1998 | 63 |
The 1998 Kansas Third Congressional District Race | 77 |
The 1998 South Carolina Senate Race | 93 |
The 1998 Nevada Senate Race | 111 |
The 1998 New Mexico Third Congressional District Race | 135 |
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1998 Congressional Elections advertising AFL-CIO African American agenda Americans for Limited attack Baesler Bob Inglis Bunning campaign finance candidates Christian Coalition Christian Right competitive races Connecticut contests contributions Cook Coordinated Expenditure County Democratic Party direct mail election advocacy election cycle Ensign Eskelsen FEC Reports Fletcher fund-raising funds GOTV GOTV effort ground-war Hollings incumbent independent expenditures Inglis interest groups interview by author issue ads issue advocacy Kentucky Kentucky Senate labor mailers Maloney Merrill Cook Mexico midterm election million Moore national party NCPAC negative Nevada Senate Nielsen noncandidate NRCC October organizations paign party committees percent phone banks political parties polls radio ads Redmond registered Reid Republican Party Scorsone Senate race Sierra Club Sixth District Snowbarger Social Security soft money South Carolina spending spent statewide strategy targeted telephone television ads Term Limits tion turnout U.S. Senate U.S. Term Limits Udall union Utah vote voters