The state Republican Party paid nearly all of Bush's research and campaign staff expenses last year, keeping his own campaign costs down and preventing challenger Buddy MacKay from receiving public campaign dollars. The largest contributors to the state GOP last year included sugar, health care and telecommunications companies, as well as gambling interests, attorneys and business associations. It's very clear to anybody who followed the 1998 elections that the political parties have become Laundromats for big special-interest contributions,'' said Sally Spener, executive director of Common Cause of Florida. House Speaker John Thrasher and other top Republicans oppose the reforms. Without a companion bill in the House, the package cannot become law.
Critics frequently argue that campaign contributions are a form of protected free speech.
Other provisions of the reform package would require that political action committees with vague names disclose their backers, and would change the way parties craft their advertisements. Political parties are allowed to pay for advertising that mentions at least three candidates. They frequently produce television spots that focus almost exclusively on one politician and mention the other two in passing, but the bill would mandate equal treatment. Enter words describing a concept or keywords.