The Republican National Committee has
filed a lawsuit
against the Federal Elections Commission, hoping to prevent
restrictions on donations to political parties designated for spending
on state-level campaign work and congressional redistricting, among
other things. The RNC has teamed up with James Bopp,
the country's top crusader against campaign finance regulations, who has had substantial success of late. He argued the
Wisconsin Right to Life
case that eviscerated McCain-Feingold's ban on corporate and union
spending on advertisements in federal elections. (He is also himself a
member of the RNC and counsel to the rightwing, socially conservative
group Focus on the Family). Previously his mission has been to tear
down all restrictions on independent groups, but in this case Bopp is
expanding his goals to include the political parties themselves. And
while new Democratic National Committee Counsel Bob Bauer, late of the
Obama campaign and an election law scholar in his own right,
thinks the law and the constitution are on their side, the Robert's Supreme Court is
clearly on a path toward dismantling the campaign finance regime we have now.