The American Spectator

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Books in Review

(Page 2 of 2)

The McCain-Feingold Act of 2002 was one of the worst pieces of legislation in American history, no thanks to George Bush for signing it. It plainly violates the First Amendment, protects incumbents (and was surely designed to do so), and undermines the political parties. Our campaign finance laws are candidate- centered, the authors write, while political parties are severely restricted in their ability to finance their candidates' campaigns. Because the system was designed to reduce corruption and undue influence, "a candidate-centered fundraising system seems, to say the least, rather odd."

Why so? "It places the candidates and office holders in exactly the position they should not be occupying -- as supplicants, seeking financial support from those who are trying to influence them." (That's on page one, but there are quotes of similar quality throughout the book.)

Of course, there was a reason for structuring the campaign finance system that way: "It is highly favorable to the incumbents who designed it."

Enough said. By 5-4, the Supreme Court upheld the law in 2003. Now that O'Connor and Souter have left, the new court just might reverse that bad decision, even without an assist from Sotomayor.