God Bless You, McCain-Feingold

David Weigel | April 5, 2006

Via Josh Marshall comes this delightful tale of campaign finance law in action. Apparently, former Majority Leader Tom DeLay had wanted to quit Congress for months now - but he never stopped fundraising for re-election. He kept collecting cash (around $3 million of it) because "under federal campaign rules, any reelection money a lawmaker raises can be used to pay legal fees stemming from official duties."

All you conservative activists who kicked in a check because you wanted Tom DeLay to win his election and give those rotten Democrats what for? I hope you're Woody Allen fans.

UPDATE: There's some confusion as to whether I think McCain-Feingold is responsible for this. Not specifically. But this is an example of a ridiculous, incumbent-protecting slice of campaign law that - amazingly! - has never been targeted by campaign finance reformers who are so concerned about matters like citizens getting involved in politics via 527s.