ISSUES '96: THE BUCKS START HERE

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This kind of subterfuge offends Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, who, despite his long-standing friendship with Dole, has sponsored a bill that would turn off the soft-money spigot. Unlike any of the growing number of campaign-finance reform measures being floated on Capitol Hill, his bill, which is co-sponsored by Democratic Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, would stop the flow of these funds by preventing national parties from distributing the money to state parties. After months of trying, the two sponsors have finally succeeded in getting the Senate to schedule a debate on the bill next week, though they face daunting opposition from their colleagues.

In the meantime, the Republican Party will rush to swoop up soft money, helping make this the most expensive campaign in history. More than $1.5 billion is expected to be spent on all federal elections this year, with soft money making up the fastest-growing part of that lucre. The two major parties are likely to raise $125 million of it, double the amount they collected in the last presidential cycle.

Much of that money sloshes into party coffers via soirees like the one held last Monday at the Washington convention center. The Republican House-Senate dinner raised $8 million by offering guests different levels of access for donations of $10,000 to $100,000; benefits ranged from a photo with G.O.P. congressional leaders to lunch with House Speaker Newt Gingrich to having "a member of Congress or a Senator seated at your table" during the dinner.

Not to be outdone, the Democrats' fund-raising gala last month was a two-day affair that raised $12.3 million, the biggest haul in Democratic Party history. It started with intimate dinners with top Clinton appointees at the homes of such luminaries as Ethel Kennedy and Vice President Al Gore. Those who gave $5,000 or more received a briefing by Clinton Cabinet officers, while the largest moneybags (those in the $250,000 category) got the best seats at the black-tie dinner on the second night.

Lobbyist Daniel Dutko, who represents oil and communications companies and raised over $500,000 for the party, got to sit next to the White House senior adviser on the environment and telecommunications, the Vice President. "The sense of being involved, of helping the Administration, helps my clients," Dutko says. "There's no way to deny that."

There is evidence--disputed by the principals--that the money does produce big and nicely targeted concessions from the parties who take it in. According to Common Cause, regional and long-distance telephone companies won concessions in the telecommunications bill last year in tandem with their record soft-money giving. NYNEX, a huge regional Baby Bell, contributed $100,000 to The Republican Congressional Campaign Committee the same month House G.O.P. leaders relaxed a requirement in the bill that Baby Bells must have competition for local telephone business before being able to sell long-distance service. Later long-distance companies gave $160,000 to the Democrats after President Clinton threatened that he would veto the legislation. Around the time a compromise was struck, money flowed to both parties. Ann McBride, president of Common Cause, says the result of such giving is that "the integrity of the legislative process is destroyed."