Soft money is described as any funds provided by groups outside a candidate's campaign committee.
Johnson's proposal would require both opponents to discourage outside groups from running television or radio advertisements in favor of either candidate. If an outside group did spend money on a candidate through television or radio, the opponent would be able to accept funds equal to those used in the campaign. Matt Bisbee, Johnson's campaign manager, said the ban was not on all soft money, just money used toward television and radio advertisements. Johnson wants to be on the record as an advocate of such reform, which Bisbee calls a bipartisan effort. Campaign spending is not nearly as out of control here as it is in other areas, Bisbee said.