Beatty, McCain Denounce Measure as Sham in TV Ad

Opposition to a Legislature-sponsored campaign finance proposal gained momentum Thursday as a new commercial hit the airwaves featuring reform crusader John McCain and actor Warren Beatty urging voters to defeat the proposal.

Sitting side by side, the liberal actor and the conservative Republican senator from Arizona nod sagely while a hidden announcer describes Proposition 34 as a measure “disguised as campaign finance reform.”

“It’s written by people already in office to benefit people already in office,” Beatty says to the camera. McCain adds: “And what it actually does is wipe out real reform, Proposition 208, which was passed overwhelmingly by the voters.”

The new commercial is being aired this week on cable television channels in San Francisco and Los Angeles and next week on cable in San Diego and Sacramento.

Tony Miller, manager of the campaign to defeat Proposition 34, said the opposition camp is spending $250,000 to air the 30-second spot. He said funds to pay for it were provided by Los Angeles millionaire Max Palevsky, a longtime Democratic patron, who has donated $600,000 to the campaign to defeat the proposal.

Supporters of the proposition said they do not have the funds to fight back with their own television commercial, but they will begin airing radio ads this week.

“We don’t have the deep-pocket donors to fund something like that,” said Tom Knox, a consultant to the Yes on 34 campaign. “We find it unfortunate our opponents insist on derailing a sensible, compromise reform measure.”

Placed on the Nov. 7 ballot by lawmakers, Proposition 34 would limit campaign contributions and require frequent reporting of donations in the 90 days before an election.

The measure is opposed by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters and campaign reform advocates like McCain, who argue that it would nullify most of the provisions of Proposition 208, a much tougher measure overwhelmingly approved by the voters in 1996.

Shortly after its passage, Proposition 208 was struck down by a federal court that found its limits on contributions were too restrictive. Hopes that it might be revived were kindled by a later U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Missouri case that upheld strict contribution limits. The Proposition 208 ruling is being appealed.

That measure would set a $250 limit on individual contributions to legislative races and a $500 limit on contributions to statewide candidates, including those running for governor. Proposition 34 would establish a $3,000 limit on contributions to candidates for the Legislature and a $5,000 ceiling on donations to all statewide candidates except the governor, who would face a $20,000 limit.

The latest contribution is the second time that Palevsky has provided financing for commercials dealing with campaign finance proposals. In March, he donated $1 million to the campaign to pass Proposition 25, a political reform measure soundly defeated by the voters.

At the time, he said he was sickened by the “corruption of the electoral process” caused by enormous sums being funneled into political campaigns.