FEINGOLD SCOLDS PARTY FOR TAKING SOFT MONEY

On eve of convention, he says Democrats should be ashamed of themselves

Los Angeles - On the eve of the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Russ
Feingold scolded his own party Sunday for raising big corporate
contributions at the four-day gathering, saying "both parties should frankly
be ashamed of themselves."

Feingold called on Democrats to keep soft money - unlimited donations from
corporations, unions and individuals - "out of all future conventions."

"Democrats have a special responsibility to be true to our roots," Feingold
said in an interview. "We ought to take the lead. . . . Everybody in the
party should make sure we never look like this again."

Feingold repeated that message in a speech Sunday night at the "Shadow
Convention," an alternative political gathering staged here this week and in
Philadelphia during the GOP convention two weeks ago.

Feingold, who has been the Democrats' point man in the Senate on campaign
reform, was a featured opening night speaker at the Shadow Convention, along
with Senate Democrat Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and former Colorado senator
Gary Hart.

Feingold did not aim his criticism at the party's presidential candidate, Al
Gore, who has been dogged by questions about his own fund-raising practices
at the White House.

"I strongly support Al Gore," he said in the interview.

"Al Gore will sign a bill completely wiping this out," he said, referring to
a measure Feingold and Republican John McCain have pushed to ban soft-money
contributions to parties. The bill has passed the House but failed
repeatedly in the Senate.

Corporate sponsorship and seven-figure contributions have become a feature
of both party conventions, drawing fire from reformers who say givers are
buying access and greasing the skids for pet legislation.

Feingold is scheduled to give a three-to four-minute address at the
Democratic convention, well before prime time Tuesday. He said he will not
use that occasion to scold the party, but to make the case that Gore
supports a soft-money ban while GOP nominee George W. Bush does not.

"Even though Al Gore has correctly identified himself as an imperfect
messenger" on campaign reform, he never failed as a legislator to support
the issue, Feingold said.

Gore appeared with Feingold this year in Milwaukee to pledge his support for
Feingold's bill and to promise to make the issue a top legislative priority.
He has not given the issue great emphasis in his campaign since then, though
Feingold praised his new running mate, Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, as
an energetic advocate of reform.

Asked what he thought Gore should say on the issue at the convention,
Feingold said, "I think he should do exactly what he did in Milwaukee and
say, 'I'm going to get rid of this mess.' "

Feingold was also critical of the ubiquitous corporate-sponsored receptions
for delegates here and goody bags handed out to Democrats. Some of the
parties are being held on behalf of his own Senate leaders and fellow
members of Congress, and some involve Wisconsin companies, such as Miller
Brewing.

Feingold said he considered large soft-money fund-raisers a much bigger
issue, however.

This is not the first time the state's junior senator has criticized his
party's political practices. When Feingold ran for re-election in 1998, he
told the party to stop using soft money to run ads on his behalf. And when
the Democratic National Committee began running ads for Gore in Wisconsin
and other battleground states earlier this year - ads paid for in part with
soft money - he condemned the practice.

The Shadow Convention itself is a sort of rebuke to the parties. Organized
by political columnist and self-described "recovering Republican" Arianna
Huffington, the event is devoted to three issues she says are ignored by the
major parties: campaign reform, income inequality and the "failed" war on
drugs.

Some Republicans who planned to speak at the Philadelphia Shadow Convention
dropped out, reportedly because of pressure from GOP officials.

Feingold said no one in his party had complained to him about his decision
to participate in this Shadow Convention.

Feingold said he may speak again at the event later, when campaign reform is
discussed in detail.

The parties receive large public grants to stage their conventions but have
increasingly relied on private donations to supplement them.

Feingold said that if the public grants aren't sufficient, the parties could
shorten the conventions from four days to two.

"My main purpose is to help elect Al Gore," Feingold said of his time here.
But he said he planned to spend as much time as possible criticizing what he
regards as the convention's fund-raising excesses.

"I'm just going to talk to whoever will talk to me about this," he said.