Thursday, June 5th 1997 -- Things are heating up in Washington.

The White House first hinted it would turn off the "soft money" spigot earlier this year.

Soft money is a misnomer for some very hard cash that, under FEC rules can flow from corporations or individuals directly into the coffers of political organizations -- most notably the two major political parties -- with no limit. Now the President is asking the Federal Election Commission to outlaw limitless political contributions.

Both the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee are big beneficiaries of these types of contributions. Recent media attention to the sleazier side of corporate and foreign campaign contributions have hit hardest on Democrats, although recent focus on Hong Kong millions funneled to the GOP blackened the eye of former RNC chairman Haley Barbour.

Republicans receive more campaign cash than Democrats, but Democrats couldn't survive without their share either. After all, right now the DNC reports it is technically bankrupt, owing more than $14 million.

So what's the White House doing?

Probably not much.

Despite presidential posturing, the petition that the White House will file with the FEC won't ask it to "eliminate" soft money contributions altogether, but rather "regulate" them.

Enter Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who announced yesterday that the White House could not outlaw soft money campaign contributions. He told questioners that only Congress could take such action. He may be correct inasmuch as it was the FEC that originally recognized and later opened the soft-money door.

The people at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue may agree with McConnell. "Our plan is to go ahead and pursue a petition where the FEC would consider regulatory jurisdiction over soft money," said Rahm Emanuel, a senior adviser to the president.

Ah, "regulatory jurisdiction," not really an end to soft money.

In a nutshell, Mitch McConnell is pretending that the President wants an all out ban on soft money contributions, while the White House is merely asking for some "regulation" of it.

One thing's for sure: the matter is now murky -- and will get murkier as Republicans submit their own petition, telling the already weak and polarized FEC to abide by its own regulations and leave the rulemaking to the GOP-controlled Congress.

In short: "Leave our money alone."

You know, it couldn't have been better orchestrated had McConnell and the President secretly met and agreed to play "good cop / bad cop" on this one!

…or did they?

© 1998, 1997, American Politics Journal Publications Inc.