Political Quotes

“every question the distinguished Senator from Kentucky asked indicates how important it is to have a full, complete process here in the Senate about campaign finance. Every question he asks is more complicated than the last. Him asking me how the Democrats stand on this issue is something I cannot answer. These seats have changed back and forth since we took up McCain-Feingold. I will say this: Having worked as a candidate prior to the passage of McCain-Feingold and after it passed--as far as I am concerned, what happened in 1998, when I had a very difficult race in Nevada with my dear friend, the junior Senator from Nevada, John Ensign, we had a tough election, a tough election. But in the little State of Nevada, back in 1998, we did not have many people there. We are approaching 3 million there now. We did not have 2 million then. John Ensign spent $10 million; Harry Reid spent $10 million. But the vast majority of the money was corporate money. People could give us hundreds of thousands of dollars. Now, that may not have corrupted John Ensign or corrupted Harry Reid, but it is a process that does not look good, and it is corrupting, it could corrupt an individual. Having run in 2004--it was a good election--I went out and raised money, as I did when I first started in this process. I would go to somebody. They would give me whatever the limits were: $1,000, $2,000.…”