Too Young to Vote, Old Enough to Donate
By GLEN JUSTICE

Published: February 10, 2004

THE WOODLANDS, Tex. — It did not take Kaelynn Adams-Haack long to decide she wanted to support the re-election campaign of Representative Tammy Baldwin, Democrat of Wisconsin. The two met at a dinner party, talked for part of the evening and by the time Kaelynn left she had decided that she wanted to give the congresswoman a $1,000 contribution.

And she did — as soon as she checked with her parents. Then Kaelynn headed home to resume the life of a first grader: homework, chores and the usual fun and games.

"I knew not to give her too much and not to give her too little, so I gave her $1,000," said Kaelynn, who is now 8 and says she hopes to make more donations in the future.

While Kaelynn may be a little girl with an uncommon interest in politics who has every right to make donations, contributions from people her age are often used by adults as a way around laws restricting how much an individual can give to a campaign.

The McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, which took effect more than a year ago, included a ban on donations by those under 18. But in December, the Supreme Court struck down the prohibition, saying it trampled free-speech rights.

The result is that people who are too young to drink, drive or vote can again contribute to presidential and Congressional campaigns, a practice that political strategists and fund-raisers say may intensify as competition for donations heats up. This in turn gives greater influence to families with political interests who want to funnel large amounts to politicians, campaign finance experts say.