National political party committees can accept unlimited amounts of such donations, but there are federal restrictions on how soft money can be spent.

The DNC is asking the Federal Election Commission to change a rule on the use of soft money temporarily to pay operating expenses.

Party committees can pay for operating expenses such as rent, for example, using "hard money" _ contributions that are limited but can be spent in any way.

The committees can then reimburse themselves for 40 percent of those expenses using their soft money accounts.

They currently have 60 days to make the reimbursement. The Democrats want federal regulators to extend the time limit until the end of this year to 120 days.

Both the DNC and the Republican National Committee suspended fund raising immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Both resumed fund raising last week.

Soft money contributions typically are made at fund-raising events. "If you don't ask, you don't get," DNC spokeswoman Maria Cardona said.

Because of that, the Democratic committee needs more time to raise soft money to reimburse itself for some of its operating costs, DNC attorney Joseph Sandler said.

If the commission rejects the request, the DNC may have less hard money to spend on next year's congressional elections, Sandler said. The DNC would not say how much it has raised in the past month.

Common Cause criticized the change request.

"For the Democrats to claim that the terrorist attacks somehow justify widening the soft money loophole is simply not credible," the good government lobbying group's president, Scott Harshbarger, said in a written statement.

The FEC hopes to consider the request at its Oct. 25 meeting.

The Republican National Committee decided against joining the DNC in its request. The RNC believes the current rules on soft money are appropriate, spokesman Trent Duffy said.

Fund-raisers for the committee brought in roughly $5 million in September, Duffy said. The committee resumed telemarketing last week and plans to start direct-mail activities soon.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe held fund-raisers in California last week and is raising money in the Midwest this week. Some of the events are $1,000 per person, Cardona said.

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On the Net: Federal Election Commission: http://www.fec.gov/