These are all disclosed dollars. These are dollars that are protected under campaign finance reform. Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Backus took a similar tack in defending a giant fundraiser headlined by Barbra Streisand that took place in Los Angeles. But that doesn't mean the rest of us should be fooled. Hard money and soft money alike are political contributions given to gain access to politicians .
Money given for influence is money given for influence, no matter what it is called.
Controlling the explosion of soft money is a crucial part of any campaign finance reform effort. There is no argument that the importance of soft money in political campaigns has increased astronomically in recent years. But even if every single dollar of soft money were banned from the system, there would still be hundreds of millions of dollars contributed by special interests. This article may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author. View other 'Devil in the Details' articles.