(Woops… Just noticed as I sit “save” that BP got a diary up on this while I was working on mine… check out what he’s got to say as well…)
Ruh-roh. In yet another sign that Mr. Pollina’s last minute surprise abandonment of the Progressive Party ballot line was a hastily made decision, the Free Press is reporting that the implications of campaign finance regulations for the born-again Independent may be dire for the cash-strapped campaign. As in a whopping $28,000 worth of dire (and this for a campaign that had only $23,000 on hand as of the filing of less than two weeks ago). Ouch.
From Hallenbeck::
Pollina faces the likelihood of having to return $28,000 in campaign contributions that go over the limit of what an independent candidate is allowed to accept from donors. Independents are limited to $1,000 donations from individuals per election while candidates from parties that hold primaries have a $2,000 limit, according to Elections Director Kathy DeWolfe.
She gave Pollina’s campaign the news last week after reviewing his campaign’s finance reports that were filed July 31.
Pollina had listed contributions over $1,000 from 35 donors as of July 31.
Of course, many will remember the last time Pollina just did his thing despite the requirements of the campaign finance law (when the Progressive Party shared polling information with him – an act defined by law as a campaign contribution disqualifying him from the public financing he had been planning for). At that time, his first impulse was not to comply, but to sue to have the law (that he had helped get enacted) overturned, in an extraordinary act of political burning-the-village-in-order-to-save-it-ism. It’s hard to imagine him doing that again and courting a very poor narrative. On the other hand, it didn’t really hurt him in 2002, as he received his highest percentage of the final vote in a November election to date. In any event, it’s a real stunner that someone once dubbed Mr. Campaign Finance Reform once again did not do his homework. Or maybe it’s just another “rules are only for the bad guys” thing.
Or – whatever. Who knows. I just don’t understand that guy and the campaigns he runs. I really, really don’t.
In any event, as I expected, Pollina’s switch is bringing out many questions regarding the current campaign finance scheme. WIll contributors be able to re-gift Pollina under their kids’ names? Will that just look slimy? Will Pollina flip yet again and go for a Progressive write-in? Could he accept such a write in, or would the double flip make him a total joke? How exactly can these laws be applied before there has even been a primary, dubbing any candidate an “official “major party candidate?”
Whatever the case, Pollina now has a $28,000 alarm clock ticking to primary day next month.