McCain says Senate is trying to bury campaign finance reform bill

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is running into roadblocks from his own party after he introduced new campaign-finance reform legislation.

Senator John McCain on CNN's Larry King Live

McCain wanted both houses of Congress to take up the issue in the next couple of months, but he said the Senate majority leader won't agree to move it to the top of agenda.

"We are having great difficulties negotiating that with Senator (Trent) Lott," McCain said on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Monday night.

"We all know that Senator Lott in the past has not only opposed my efforts, but opposed campaign-finance reform as well. I hope we can work together," McCain said.

The former presidential candidate said another problem is that Lott and others want to add other bills, such as electoral reform, onto the campaign-finance reform bill. McCain said that would muddy the issue and slow down the legislation.

McCain said he is willing to wait a few months so that he doesn't interfere with President Bush's top legislative priority -- education.

	TRANSCRIPT
Sen. McCain discusses campaign finance reform on 'Larry King Live'

"The president and I have a very cordial relationship. I'm not interested in interfering," said McCain. "That's why we are willing to wait. I think he could get his education package up and get it to the floor. And we could go immediately after that."

He also doesn't expect interference from the White House, because of what Bush said on the campaign trail.

"He had a campaign-finance reform proposal before the South Carolina primary. We agree on most issues," McCain said.

Bipartisan introduction

McCain had promised to move quickly on the issue that has received increasing support from his fellow lawmakers.

Joined by a handful of Democratic and Republican lawmakers at a Capitol Hill news conference, McCain insisted that he hopes to coordinate his efforts with the Bush administration -- but he said he would still go forward if lukewarm support from the White House evaporates.

Sen. Fred Thompson

"After one of the closest elections in our nation's history, there's one thing the American people are unanimous about: They want their government back," McCain told reporters.

At the center of the legislation are provisions seeking to ban unrestricted "soft money" donations to political parties, and limitations on issue advertisements by outside groups in support of particular political candidates.

In addition, it would strengthen disclosure requirements, tighten rules against overseas donations and codify a Supreme Court ruling requiring unions to seek permission of non-members before any fees they pay can be used for political purposes.

"This is not a perfect bill. It does not attempt to solve all the evils that plague our campaign system. But we will not let perfect be the enemy of progress," said McCain, who told reporters that he favored an "open amendment process" to this year's campaign finance bill.

The House approved similar campaign finance measures supported by McCain and Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin in each of the last two years. But the bill has died numerous deaths in the Senate, where the sponsors have been unable to muster the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster preventing a final vote.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who has led opposition to the measure, signaled another tough fight this year.

"Unfortunately, the latest incarnation of McCain-Feingold suffers the same flaws as its numerous predecessors: It's unfair, unbalanced, unworkable and unconstitutional," he said.

Campaign finance was the central issue of McCain's unsuccessful Republican primary challenge against President Bush. Although he was defeated by Bush, McCain returned to the Senate more determined to push through the bill.

His efforts have been buoyed by the fact that a handful of Republican incumbents who opposed McCain-Feingold were defeated in last November's elections by Democrats who support the legislation.

"Every one of the new Democratic senators has come up to me and come up to John and said, 'We want to be a part of this.' By the time this thing is done, every Democrat will be there," Feingold said.

Handful of Republicans on board

Their efforts received another boost last week when a longtime conservative opponent, Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Mississippi, announced his support.

"For me, it was the experience of the recent election -- the realization that candidates are now so vulnerable to the activities of organizations who are interested in influencing the outcomes of elections," Cochran said. "We're defenseless."

Although Cochran has voiced reservations about certain elements of McCain-Feingold, he told reporters he was adamant about increased disclosure of donors as well as communications between campaigns and so-called independent organizations.

Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, also voiced support for McCain-Feingold, even though it does not include an increase in the $1,000 limit for "hard money" -- direct contributions to candidates -- which many Republicans favor.

"We're going to have some amendments," Thompson predicted. "I think that if we increase the hard money limits, that we would do better with regard to the soft money and the independent ads situation. If people had their choice, I think they'd give it the old-fashioned way."

But a number of Republicans remain wary. Even though the newly inaugurated Bush embraced campaign finance initiatives banning "soft money" donations during the Republican presidential primaries, he and others oppose limits on individual donors.

Bush has also repeatedly called for a so-called "paycheck protection" provision, which would allow individual union members to direct their leaders not to earmark their dues for political donations they do not support.

Despite continued differences, Feingold insisted the introduction of campaign finance legislation is "not a challenge to our new president."

"All of us respect our new president and look forward to working with him on many issues. This is an opportunity for cooperation and for real accomplishment with the new administration," he said.

Bush, McCain to meet Wednesday

Bush and McCain spoke briefly on the telephone last week about the Arizona senator's plans to introduce campaign finance legislation early in the legislative session. The two men plan to meet at the White House Wednesday night.

"I hope we can reach broad agreement on the provisions of campaign finance reform, I don't expect specific agreements," said McCain.

McCain will have some convincing to do. White House officials have made clear -- most recently on the Sunday talk-show circuit -- that education, tax reform and military spending come first on Bush's legislative agenda.

"We have a lot of priorities that would come before campaign finance reform, but we do respect the leadership that John McCain has offered in this area," White House chief of staff Andrew Card said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

McCain has also been negotiating with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, about scheduling a floor vote. Lott has offered to bring the bill up by Memorial Day, while McCain has insisted on action before the Easter holiday.

In addition, Lott has said he would like to see the bill broadened to include electoral reform proposals sparked by the post-election battle in Florida, a move rejected by McCain and Feingold.

"Russ and I are in negotiations with Senator Lott, and those negotiations will continue," said McCain. "But let me point out ... we could have (already) taken up this legislation and passed it in a couple or three weeks."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.