ISSUES '96: THE BUCKS START HERE

Sometimes Washington is actually as unseemly as people imagine. Take the case of John Boehner. A year ago, the Ohio Congressman handed thousands of dollars of tobacco-industry campaign checks to half a dozen Republican colleagues right on the House floor. And if that weren't bad enough, Democratic leaders cut short the very press conference they had called to criticize him. Why? Reporters, knowing that Democrats had done the same, were turning their questions on them.

One reason the public is cynical about government is the belief that money buys influence in proportion to the gift. And no type of campaign giving is larger than so-called soft money, which flows without limit from labor unions, corporations and wealthy individuals to the national parties. Direct gifts to candidates, called hard money, is strictly limited ($1,000 per candidate per election from individuals). But soft money, which goes to the parties, can be given with abandon. Insiders like to say, "It's soft because it isn't hard to do."

The candidate who is benefiting most from this soft cascade is Republican-nominee-to-be Bob Dole. His campaign has reached the legal limit of what it can raise itself before the convention, and the Democratic Party is doing its best to take advantage of this. Last week it filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission charging Dole's operation with violations of spending restrictions. But as Dole's operatives know, there is no need to break any laws to lubricate a cash-dry campaign. There is always soft money.

For the past several weeks, Dole's campaign has been relying heavily on soft money given to the Republican National Committee. Although this kind of cash is supposed to be for use by state party organizations, it benefits a presidential candidate by funding such "party building" activities as canvassing and advertising. Already, R.N.C. ads attacking Clinton on everything from welfare reform to his Paula Jones problems have aired across the country, with only the fact that they don't say "Vote for Bob" as evidence that they don't emanate from Dole headquarters. The Republican Party has also hired dozens of ex-Dole employees, who work at the R.N.C. during the day and return as volunteers to Dole Central at night. Officially, the campaign has reduced its staff from 230 to 67. Unofficially, the place is as busy as ever and has even taken another half floor of space.

Even Dole's road show is mapped out partly by the R.N.C. This is legitimate, according to the Dole campaign, because the candidate, at almost every stop, either attends an R.N.C. fund raiser, helps plan future fund raising for the party or attends a "unity rally," which, aides contend, is really different from a "Dole rally" because unity rallies focus on promoting other Republican candidates. Dole's travel last Thursday was almost completely arranged by the party because he attended a fund raiser on a paddle boat on the Ohio River, a "unity rally" at the landing in Louisville, Kentucky, and later another "unity" barbecue in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.