Ganske calls on Harkin to close "soft-money" account

A G-O-P candidate for the U-S Senate is calling on democrat Senator Tom Harkin to close an account that’s collecting so-called “soft money” for the Harkin re-election effort. What Harkin’s doing is legal, but Ganske says that doesn’t make it right. He says Harkin’s soft money committee has raised nearly one million dollars at the same time the senator voted to end soft money. Harkin campaign manager Jeff Link admits checks for Harkin that are larger than $1000 are funneled to a special account. He says any contributions that don’t qualify under federal rules are sent to the Democratic campaign committee, which can do whatever it wants with the money. But Link says it’s all legal under current campaign finance rules. Congressman Greg Ganske of Des Moines says he won’t set up a similar account that gets around the thousand-dollar limit on campaign contributions. He says, “If you’re for campaign finance, you ought to put your money where your mouth is.” The Iowa Republican Party is running a radio ad on Ganske’s behalf with “soft money” contributions, but Ganske says he had no contact with his party about that ad.