THE BUCKS START HERE

By JEFFREY H. BIRNBAUM

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.

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."

Like telecommunications, the gambling industry appears to be hedging its bets. After President Clinton considered imposing a 4% tax on gambling receipts in 1994, Steve Wynn's Golden Nugget casino gave the Republican National Committee $230,000, and Wynn, who had supported Clinton in 1992, played host to a nearly half-million-dollar fund raiser for Bob Dole.

But with the possibility looming that Congress may establish a commission with subpoena power to investigate gambling, Wynn is taking a second look at the Democrats. He recently played golf with Clinton, attended a fund raiser for the Democrats in Las Vegas last week and, the Democrats say, pledged a substantial contribution. (Wynn's spokesman denies this.) Now both leading Republicans and Democrats are expressing their doubts about giving the commission subpoena power.

Despite the soft-money flow, some pundits and politicians contend that the system needs more, not less, cash. Why, they wonder, does toothpaste get more advertising dollars than the policy debates of the day? And doesn't something need to be done to reduce the advantage that millionaires have over candidates who are not as well heeled? On the other hand, anyone who attended the Reform Party Convention in Los Angeles two weeks ago could have witnessed the persistent power of Ross Perot's call for campaign-finance reform. National polls show that nearly three-quarters of Americans favor candidates for Congress who say they support overhauling campaign-finance laws.

That's why, as a way to block the McCain-Feingold measure, Dole and a bipartisan group of otherwise reluctant reformers want to create a commission to recommend ways to change the law. But not before Republicans plan another $10 million fund raiser during their National Convention in San Diego this August. And not before Clinton and Gore have completed their own frenetic party fund raising: in the 70 days between April 4 and June 14, the tally was 11 events for the Vice President and 27 events for the President, including last week's $25,000-a-couple luncheon at the home of Las Vegas Sun editor Brian Greenspun.

With that level of addiction to soft money, it is no wonder that the commission will be asked to report back well after November.

--With reporting by Tamala M. Edwards/Louisville

With reporting by TAMALA M. EDWARDS/LOUISVILLE