Suppose illegal campaign finance is proven: what then?

[BrokenPaw]

(Mods, if this isn't "Politics" enough, my apologies; feel free to move it)

There's been a lot of speculation about how much of Obama's campaign funding has come from illegal or fraudulent sources.

Suppose for a moment that all of those claims are proven beyond a doubt to be true, and that (just for the sake of hyperbole) every single dollar that he's campaigned with is shown to be dirty in some way or other. 

Given that, what happens?  If he wins the election before the proof of dirty money is made, then what?  He can't be impeached for it, if I understand correctly, because impeachment is for offenses committed while in office.  His election can't be rescinded, can it?  Would federal prosecutors have to just sit on things until he's out of office (if any of them survived (in a career sense) his presidency)?  Is there a statute of limitations on campaign finance misbehavior?

Or would it all fall on his campaign people, leaving them to be prosecuted while he got away clean?

If the proof of dirty money were made before election day, what then?  Can he be disqualified?  Or is campaign finance law pretty much just lip service with no real consequence?

This is not pot-stirring or tinfoil-hattery; I'm not suggesting anything one way or the other about Obama's finances.  I just want to know how the system works.

-BP

[Manedwolf]

He's from Chicago. Dirty money is normal.

[charby]

A Democrat version of Karl Rove will be persecuted and Ron Paul supporters fanatics will try to citizen arrest that person when they go on a public speaking tour.

[K Frame]

Everyone yawns and life continues as it has.

[BrokenPaw]

Everyone yawns and life continues as it has.

Yeah, that's more or less what I figured.

So why do we have the laws at all?  What's the point of having a law that will never be enforced?

-BP

[wmenorr67]

Yeah, that's more or less what I figured.

So why do we have the laws at all?  What's the point of having a law that will never be enforced?

-BP

In case a Republican messes up.

[Manedwolf]

In case a Republican messes up.

Yup.

[buzz_knox]

The same thing will happen as when illegal Chinese funds were found to have gone to the Clinton and Gore coffers.  The story will go away quickly, supporters will say "everyone does it" and funds will continue to flow.

[Manedwolf]

The same thing will happen as when illegal Chinese funds were found to have gone to the Clinton and Gore coffers.  The story will go away quickly, supporters will say "everyone does it" and funds will continue to flow.

But if someone gave Palin a free dress, that's front page headline.

[seeker_two]

The same thing will happen as when illegal Chinese funds were found to have gone to the Clinton and Gore coffers.  The story will go away quickly, supporters will say "everyone does it" and funds will continue to flow.

...unless McCain wins....then Pelosi & Reid will push for a special prosecutor to investigate the GOP, the Democrats will sue to overturn the election, and MoveOn.org will dedicate all their pixels to destroying Palin before the '12 election...

.....oh, and San Francisco will secede from the Union....so it won't be all bad....

[The Annoyed Man]

Dirty money for the Democrats is a given. I'm a whole lot more concerned about dirty voting and ACORN. Obama is so flush with cash that he can afford to return any monies that are adjudicated as dirty, and he's made of teflon, so no charges will stick to him personally. It's just a fact that people with a higher moral calling have to accept about Democrats. But the ACORN stuff, that's sedition and subversion.

(I know, I know. There are no more "sedition" laws, but there ought to be. If there were, half the Democrat party, and ALL of ACORN would be behind bars. But I repeat myself.)

In any case, what ACORN has done is downright dangerous. Who in their right mind trusts any longer the validity of the voter rolls in areas where ACORN has been active? It calls into question all election results wherever they were active going into this election. When Al Gore tried to steal the election in 2000, he opened a Pandora's box that Democrats may well wish was closed following this election. Unfortunately for them, the way has been paved for legal challenges in court for every election result you don't like, and given the perfidy of ACORN, Republicans would be fools not to challenge this year's results. If I were McCain's legal counsel, I would. Democrats can't expect that, after putting the nation through the electoral wringer in Florida in 2000, and then repeating the bogus mantra for 8 years that Bush "stole" election (which means he successfully prevented Democrats from stealing it themselves), that Republicans lay down and go softly into that gentle night of political irrelevancy. There is a price to be paid for abominable behavior, and the Democrats haven't paid it yet. It has been accruing interest, and payment is due. I think Republicans should stick it to them hard for the next 4-8 years and give them a taste of their own bile.

It won't teach them a thing about moral behavior, but neither did it teach them anything when Republicans refused to descend to their level and get mean and nasty. At least Democrats might become a little more cautious about their criminality if they understand that there will be a price to be paid if they are too overt in its expression.

[HankB]

. . .  I think Republicans should stick it to them hard for the next 4-8 years and give them a taste of their own bile.

The GOP would rather pat one another on the back for taking the high road . . . as they clean out their desks and offices the morning after giving their concession speeches.

[longeyes]

No one cared while we were prosperous and retained the bulk of our most cherished freedoms.

If that changes, there could be a major sea-change.  If people are suffering and begin to believe the game is entirely rigged, they are capable of surprises.