Most people, unfortunately, misunderstand what soft money means in regard to political parties. All campaign-related soft money we receive is, by law, completely reported. We are held accountable for every dime. Legislation, which results in banning soft money from political parties, would cause the ultimate demise of state parties across the nation. In their place would be only the special interests and lobbyists.
Soft money is better and more accurately called non-federal money.
The non-federal dollars we receive each year from the Republican National Committee are invaluable to our efforts. Nearly half of the millions of dollars of non-federal state regulated dollars raised by the RNC is transferred to states for direct state and local candidate support and to fund state party building efforts. Just as local county parties look to the Ohio Republican Party for help in reaching out to voters, we look to the national party for the important services we provide. In Ohio, we are fortunate to have a strong state party. But many state party committees rely on support from the RNC just to keep their doors open and lights on.