The address listed for Diamond Enterprise's donations is not in Florida, but rather a post office box in Trevose, PA, where there is no telephone listing for any company by that name. Common Cause is preparing a full analysis of the top soft money donors to each party during 1997 for release in the near future. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the McCain-Feingold soft money ban legislation on or before March 6, 1998. The U.S. House is also expected to take up the campaign reform issue in early 1998. A poll, conducted in December by the Mellman Group for Campaign for America, found that support for the McCain-Feingold proposal transcends partisanship and geography.
Hard money means contributions that are legal under federal law for federal elections.
Soft money means contributions made outside the limits and prohibitions of federal law, including large individual or PAC contributions and direct corporate or union contributions. Totals do not include transfers between party committees, bank loans or interest, offsets to operating expenditures or other business-related receipts.