McCain works behind the scene

Washington: For months, the White House and Senate Republicans have been content to let a political impasse over vacancies at the Federal Election Commission persist, sidelining the regulatory agency in the throes of a heated presidential campaign.

But last week, President Bush suddenly announced three new nominees to the commission. He also backed away from Republicans' insistence that the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official who faces vigorous opposition from Democrats, be voted upon with other nominees to the commission.

Several Democratic officials familiar with the negotiations and watchdog groups said they believed that Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican Party nominee for the presidency, had been pressing the White House and Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, to resolve the issue. Although McCain has been a longtime champion of campaign finance reform, he also has an urgent pecuniary interest in the matter.

Without a functioning commission, campaign finance experts said McCain's ability to collect $85 million in federal money for the election through the country's public financing system would be severely complicated.