April 06, 2004  McCain on McCain-Feingold and on the
"Disgraceful" Act of 527s  In this wide-ranging interview with
Senator John McCain, the following Q&A appears:      Q: You
mentioned concern about the tone of the campaign perhaps turning
off that middle electorate in what is clearly a critically
important election year. Does that mean that you're not seeing
from McCain-Feingold what you had hoped to see?      A: I think
we've accomplished a huge amount. And here's why: No longer can
a corporate executive or a union leader, a trial lawyer, be
called on the phone by me or any other federal elected official
and say, "I need a million dollars for the fund-raiser tomorrow
night, and by the way, your bill is before my committee next
week." That was what was happening.      The other interesting
aspect is I'm responsible for this ad, "I approve this ad." It's
cut way down on these negative ads.      And we've seen this
dramatic expansion of individual donors. That's what we wanted.
We wanted more donors.      How