Five years ago today President Bush signed into law the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, the main sponsors of which were Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI. Bush signed the bill despite having publicly expressed doubt that it was constitutional.
The law banned certain forms of political speech about incumbent congressmen for 30 days prior to a primary election and 60 days prior to a general election. Not since President Lincoln suspended habeus corpus and jailed prominent Copperhead newspaper editors during the Civil War has such a frontal assault been mounted against the First Amendment’s guarantee of every American’s right to express political opinion without official restraint.
Apparently Bush and his White House political strategiests hoped the federal courts would strike it down even as he got credit for signing BCRA. Less than a year later, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruled that Congress can indeed – contrary to the clear meaningof the First Amendment – make laws regulating political speech in America.
Five years later, McCain’s second presidential campaign suffers from a fatal flaw that is almost never discussed in the mainstream media – millions of conservatives and libertarians will never support him as a result of his active advocacy of McCain-Feingold. Even if he gets the Republican nomination, he will start the general campaign without the support of a significant chunk of “his base.”
And five years later, none of the promises of the McCain-Feingold advocates has been fulfilled. The “corrupting influence of money in politics” is as strong as ever and there is no evidence that the law has had one iota of influence on the degree of citizen participation in politics.
If anything, earmarks financed with tax dollars – the real corrupting influence of money in politics – is at an all-time high. Several congressmen have been convicted of crimes related to earmarks and the Republicans lost their congressional majority last November largely because they couldn’t resist this genuine form of the corrupting influence of money in politics.
One can only hope that a reformation of honesty in American politics will soon sweep a new Congress into office that will promptly repeal McCain-Feingold and restore the sacred right of every American to speak his or her mind about any politician any time any where.
Or perhaps the Wisconsin Right to Life challenge will make it to the Supreme Court and the addition of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito will result in a decision that respects the Constitution and tosses McCain-Feingold into the waste bin of history.
In the meantime, New York Sun columnist Ryan Sager has an excellent column that summarizes the case against McCain-Feingold. Friends of Freedom of Speech should circulate Sager’s column far and wide while we still can.
UPDATE: Matt Lewis talks to McCain on BCRA
Matt Lewis has posted some clips from his recent interview with McCain on Townhall.com. Note that McCain contends “money is not speech.” That statement would shock James Madison, who wrote the First Amendment, and Alexandrer Hamilton, his main colleague on The Federalist Papers. Also, the Supreme Court, which ruled years ago that commercial speech is covered by the First Amendment, as is political speech.
McCain also asserts that the number of small donors participating in politics has also increased dramatically as a result of BCRA. I seriously doubt that there is any evidence anywhere that credilbly links passage of BCRA to any change in the number of small donors participating in politics since 2003.
UPDATE II: Captain’s Quarters Says It’s ‘Unforgivable’
Ed Morrissey at Captain’s Quarters is among the wisest folks in the blogosphere, so I pay close attention to his takes on everything important. He has an excellent post up today and offers both this observation:
“Let’s emphasize this once again — the BCRA made it illegal to air criticisms of incumbent politicians. In America. Even if one can forgive the Byzantine and artificial categorization of cash that the BCRA extended, we simply cannot forgive this, even had it proven effective at cleaning up politics. And it hasn’t.”
And a response to McCain’s comments. Enjoy
Also, Ed’s wife, Marcia, has kidney transplant surgery scheduled for Friday. Please keep her in your prayers.
First Amendment
Politics
Democrats
GOP
Conservatives
Liberals
Congress
Freedom of Speech
Campaign Finance Reform
McCain-Feingold
