McCain loan could violate donor privacy

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When John McCain’s presidential campaign all but went broke, it borrowed money from its bank using its fundraising list as collateral.

Problem: McCain’s own privacy policy promises donors he won’t sell their information.

That seems to put the Republican senator's campaign in a pickle; either it pledged to its bank proceeds from something it can’t sell, or it offered to violate its own promise to donors.

McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker stressed that the campaign pledged all of its assets as collateral, not just the list.

“Such a blanket pledging,” she said, “is normal procedure for a bank loan — and does not mean that they can [or] would ever be used in any way that violates our policies.”

The privacy policy on Arizona Republican's website states: “John McCain 2008 will not sell your information to third parties or any commercial entities.”

Fundraising lists are valuable political commodities, since they offer the possibility of millions of dollars in contributions. And campaigns routinely rent or trade them.

McCain’s use of his list as collateral, however, could open the unlikely possibility of donors suing his campaign for breach of contract.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7837.html