GOP Spends ‘Soft Money’ in Race as It Deplores Its Use by Democrats

WASHINGTON — Republicans are using unregulated “soft money” contributions from corporations and wealthy donors in an effort to keep in GOP hands the House seat of former Rep. Susan Molinari. It’s the same tactic that Republicans criticized Democrats for last week.

The party launched a series of advertisements Tuesday to help Vito Fossella, a New York City councilman running for the seat that Molinari vacated to become a TV anchorwoman.

The spots don’t mention Fossella. But they criticize by name his Democratic opponent, New York state Assemblyman Eric Vitaliano, for raising taxes on families and voting to raise his own pay.

In politics, the spots are known as “issue ads” because they supposedly promote generic party ideals and don’t use words like “vote for” or “vote against” on a specific candidate.

But the ads are often indistinguishable from a candidate’s campaign ads. Critics have accused both parties of using the technique to get around legal campaign spending limits.

The GOP ad campaign comes a week after the White House released videotapes showing President Clinton telling donors during his reelection bid that a multimillion-dollar ad campaign funded by the Democratic National Committee helped his standing in the polls. Those ads, created with Clinton’s input and purchased with DNC soft money, attacked the Republican Party, but did not say “vote for Clinton.”

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a member of a Senate committee investigating campaign finance practices during the 1996 election, said the ads violate campaign laws.