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Political Advertising Law
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The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) was signed into law by President George W. Bush on March 27, 2002. The BCRA was known as the McCain-Feingold bill after its chief sponsors, Senator John McCain and Senator Russ Feingold.
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After the measure passed in the House, the Senate passed the measure by a vote of 60-40.
This sweeping measure contained a number of provisions intended to remove money from politics. For example, the BCRA, eliminated all soft money donations to the national party committees. Our focus in this article is on the political advertising aspects of this law.
Shockingly, on December 10, 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld restrictions contained in the BCRA on "issue ads" in the case of in McConnell v. Federal Election Comm'n. (For the full-text of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McConnell v. Federal Election Comm'n (02-1674) 540 U.S. 93 (2003), 251 F. Supp. 2d 176, 251 F. Supp. 2d 948, click here.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Nevertheless, the U.S. High Court--by the narrowest of margins, 5-4--concluded that Congress may make law abridging the freedom of speech in this case. Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the majority opinion in McConnell v. Federal Election Comm'n. Stevens and O'Connor were joined by David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer. Voting to uphold the First Amendment's protections in this case were Anthony Kennedy, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. (For an excellent article about this case, see "So Much for Free Speech," By Robert J. Samuelson, August 25, 2004.
Essentially, by passing the BCRA, Congress intended to suppress "issue ads" by "banning the use
of corporate or union money to pay for broadcast advertising that identifies a federal candidate within 30 days of a primary or nominating convention, or 60 days of a general election. Any ads within those periods that identify a federal candidate must be paid for with regulated, hard money or with contributions exclusively made by individual donors." (Source: Wikipedia, "Campaign finance reform".)
Aside from delivering a sledge-hammer blow to the free-speech clause of the First Amendment, the BCRA has been a stunning failure of epic proportions in its core mission: slowing the flow of money into election campaigns. In the presidential election prior to the signing of the BCRA, the 2000 presidential election cost $343.1 million. In the next presidential election after BCRA became law, the 2004 election cost $717.9 million. And now experts predict the 2008 presidential election will cost over $1 billion. (Source: "Dialing for Dollars," U.S. News and World Report, March 26 - April 2, 2007 and data from the Center for Responsive Politics.)
Check back here from time to time as future articles will examine political advertising laws and their impact of our election process, particularly on the 2008 presidential election cycle. We will also examine historical - and controversial - political advertisements from past elections as the classic "Daisy Girl" political ad from Lyndon Baines Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign, the so-called "Willie Horton" political ad that aired during the 1988 presidential campaign, and the more recent Michael J. Fox stem cell political TV spot. Most recently, we've added the web page, Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin - Articles and Links, which contains several YouTube clips as well as numerous links to articles on this hot topic.
Here is a brief historical list of links to the main 2008 presidential candidates' websites:
Democratic Party Candidates
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York. This is the Hillary Clinton for President web site - technically, the Exploratory Committee for Hillary for President.
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. This is the Barack Obama for President web site.
Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. This is the John Edwards for President web site. (For an article about the 60 Minutes interview with John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards discussing the couple's decision on his Presidential campaign following news concerning Elizabeth Edwards' cancer, click here.
Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut - campaign site.
Senator Joe Biden Delaware - campaign website.
Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska - campaign site.
Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio - campaign site.
Republican Party Candidates
Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City. This is the Rudolph Giuliani for President web site. Rudy Giuliani received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in February 2002 in recognition for his work following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Senator John McCain of Arizona. This is the John McCain 2008 web site.
Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts - campaign site.
Representative Ron Paul of Texas - campaign site.
Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas - campaign site.
Representative Duncan Hunter of California - campaign site.
John H. Cox of Illinois - campaign site.
Tom Tancredo of Colorado. This is the Tom Tancredo for President web site - technically, the Exploratory Committee for Tancredo for President.
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