And for Vice President Gore, the difference between hard and soft money could be critical to his political future. The revelation that some of the money Gore raised for the DNC ended up in hard money accounts has prompted the Justice Department to formally begin considering appointment of an independent counsel in the matter. Hard money is difficult to raise and easy to spend. But unlike with soft money, there are few restrictions on its use, and the party can spend its hard dollars directly on support of federal candidates.
Soft money is the other way around.
It can be raised from corporations and unions as well as individuals, with no limits on the amounts they can give. The soft money was used for ads that to all intents and purposes looked like Clinton-Gore campaign commercials, simply lacking a tag line at the end to urge President Clinton's reelection. Generally, the DNC needed to come up with about one-third of the advertising costs in hard dollars. The FEC rules led directly to both the DNC's hard money shortage and the predicament in which Gore now finds himself. That presents a legal issue for the vice president.