“Candidates can’t use campaign money to improve their wardrobes, the Federal Election Commission said Thursday in a ruling that nonetheless dismissed a complaint against four congressional candidates who did just that. The FEC said candidates cannot use campaign money for expenses they would have had whether they were running for office or not, such as clothes. The commission said it decided against punishing the four because the amounts spent were modest and the candidates reimbursed their campaigns.” [editor’s note: Interesting. Just yesterday, I submitted a report of an in-kind contribution to my own campaign’s treasurer for a piece of clothing that I intend to wear only when campaigning (a tie of a particular and distinctive type which I decided would serve a useful “branding” purpose). I haven’t reached the $5k reporting minimum in any case, but when I do I think I may just challenge this ruling - TLK] (07/16/09)