A proposed constitutional amendment to grant Congress and states the power to regulate campaign finance cleared another procedural hurdle Wednesday in the Senate.
And while it’s still a long shot the measure eventually will pass, both parties are getting millage from the process for messaging purposes.
Democrats had drafted the measure on the assumption Republicans would immediately block it. Democrats had hoped then to hold up the move as an example of GOP obstructionism, a ploy they expected to exploit ahead of the November congressional elections.
Republicans are dead-set against the proposed amendment, which effectively would overturn the Supreme Court’s views on campaign finance regulation.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., surprised some Monday when he allowed the measure to advance on an initial procedural vote, turning what was supposed to be a Democratic messaging bill against them.
A second procedural vote pass Wednesday afternoon on a voice vote, setting another up yet another procedural vote Thursday or Friday. A final vote would require a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes. Democrats control 55 votes.
McConnell has blasted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for shamelessly wasting Senate time on a measure he knows has slim chance of passing.
“We are presented by the majority leader with a stunt of a vote on a piece of legislation that would rewrite the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, and something that is going nowhere,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “It’s not going to happen and the majority leader knows it. It’s just like a lot of the other showboats we’ve had recently.”
Reid, meanwhile, has used the time to continue his ongoing attacks of McConnell for his ties with billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch. The majority leader has accused McConnell of refusing to consider the proposed amendment solely because the Kochs, who contribute significantly to conservative groups, oppose campaign finance laws.
Reid said Tuesday that McConnell “was all in favor” of campaign finance reform “before the brothers entered the picture.”
“If [Republicans] truly support this bill, they should let us vote on it in a timely manner and not stall,” Reid said.
Democrats say the measure, sponsored by Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., would stop what they called “dark money” from infiltrating politics now that the 2002 campaign finance law has been overturned by the Supreme Court, allowing unlimited donations to special interest groups that aim to influence elections.
Republicans said the amendment would restrict free speech by giving politicians the power over who can give money.
