Party Money Could Dry Up for Phil Angelides

You've all seen the California Democratic Party ads that attempt to link the governor to President Bush and some of his more unpopular policies.

The spot shows, and repeats again and again, footage of Schwarzenegger at an Ohio rally before the 2004 election, exhorting the crowd: "Let's go out and elect George W. Bush!" Bush won Ohio by 118,000 votes, and thus the presidency. The ad has been playing all over the place, and party officials think it's having an impact.

Starting Saturday, though, the party must dramatically scale back its financial support for Angelides' campaign — and the Bush ads.

Under state campaign-finance laws, political parties can use donations in unlimited amounts to buy TV time for spots promoting their candidates — or tearing down their opponents. But under a new provision of the law, this loophole closes 45 days before the election, and the infusion of party money dries up dramatically if they are coordinating with a candidate.

Today, the California Republican Party stopped financing ads that support Schwarzenegger and attack Angelides, and the governor's re-election campaign started picking up the tab for the media campaign. And yet, as we understand it, the Democratic Party still has booked TV time this weekend for its Bush-Schwarzenegger ads.

This is the first time this law has applied to a governor's race in California.

"This rule prevents parties and outside groups from gaming the system to benefit candidates using huge donations," said Ned Wigglesworth, policy advocate for Common Cause, a nonprofit advocacy group.

Money is a big issue for Angelides. He has collected barely half the amount that Schwarzenegger has received from donors — $14.6 million compared to $28 million. Now his campaign must pay most of the bill for his TV ads.

Or the Democratic Party could challenge the rules. They could, for example, say that Angelides is not directing the content of the party's Bush ads, and therefore they are exempt under another loophole in the law.

The party declined to comment on its ad strategy as of 6 p.m. Friday. Stayed tuned. The Schwarzenegger campaign, to be sure, will be watching the TV closely.