Campaign-Finance Reform: Still Alive?

By Amanda Bower

An unlikely alliance of two presidential aspirants is plotting to get campaign-finance reform back on the agenda, after a procedural wrangle last week prevented a House vote on a bill barring unregulated soft-money contributions. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who controls what bills come to the floor, says he has "no plan to bring up this bill now." But House minority leader Dick Gephardt and Senator John McCain will ask the 19 G.O.P. Congressmen who defected in last week's fight to pressure Hastert to change his mind. If that fails, they'll try to get signatures from a majority of House members to force a vote. It will be tough to round up 218 members, but Gephardt's done it before--to force campaign-finance votes in both 1998 and '99.

--Reported by Douglas Waller/Washington

With reporting by DOUGLAS WALLER/WASHINGTON