Starting from Scratch on Campaign Finance Reform?
Below is my post in today’s Politico | Arena. The question is “Will Citizens United alter American campaigns and if so, how?”
Water finds it way downhill; corporate money finds it way into campaigns. McCain-Feingold was not an effective bulwark against corporate money. It was simply the election lawyer full employment act.
One of my favorite examples of the ridiculousness of McCain-Feingold had to do with the prohibition on coordination between candidate campaigns and independent expenditures. I worked for firms that were doing consulting work for both the candidate and the IE in the same election. But, the lawyers told us, that was OK as long as a “firewall” existed in the office that kept information from being shared between the two sides. In other words, the law said, as long as you give the appearance of your right hand not coordinating with your left hand, you’re fine.
In my mind, the impact of Citizens United will be less about the maximization of institutional money in campaigns and more about its overtness. Before, the money made its way downhill through subterranean chambers. Now, it’s going to be like a dam broke above ground. The question to me is whether the public will be so outraged by the houses and trees being washed away that the Congress is forced to pass new legislation. I worry that the public will survey the damage with abject resignation and say, “Well, at least now it’s out in the open.”
