| | HARD FACTS: Hard and Soft Money in the 2000 Elections (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-05) |
 | | And if hard money contributions are perceived as innocent, the campaign finance reform debate becomes confined to regulation of soft money, and the door is opened to the unholy tradeoff of banning soft money in exchange for loosening regulations on hard money. |
 | | Hard money may be used for any election expense, from polling to phone-banking to advertisements that directly urge the public to vote for the candidate. |
 | | Thus, while soft money is significant, particularly in races important to national special interests, hard money constitutes 81 percent of dollars raised by federal candidates and parties and plays a special role in the financing of political campaigns. |
| www.publicampaign.org /publications/studies/hardfacts2000/fullreport.htm (3909 words) |