[EL] More speech SuperPACS = less speech for candidates development

[David Mason]

Maybe Alan Grayson's fundraising pitch need a little fact-checking.

As a candidate he is eligible for lowest unit rate, on broadcast ads at
least.

This is a wonderful fundraising pitch ("only positive ad", really?) but not
a very useful point on campaign finance.

Dave

On Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 9:17 AM, Dan Johnson <dan at kchrlaw.com> wrote:

> This is an interesting factual development.
>
> One of the core arguments of ending limits on campaign expenditures has
> been that buying more political advertisements is a good thing, as more
> speech begets more speech.
>
> One congressional challenger, Alan Grayson, posted yesterday that his
> campaign commercial (the only positive one, he notes) is off the air,
> because the avalanche of SuperPAC spending has tripled the rates for
> television commercials, putting the price of speech on television beyond
> his budget.
>
> He (or his campaign) writes here:
>
>
> https://www.facebook.com/notes/alan-grayson/we-are-off-the-air/467122639977387
>
> You know *that great positive ad*<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.actblue.com%2Fcontribute%2Fpage%2Fpositivead&h=VAQGS6n8e&s=1> for
> our campaign that we showed you a couple of days ago? That breath of fresh
> air, dispelling the stench of paid political advertising?
>
>
>
> It's off the air. We have assumed broadcast silence.
>
>
>
> Why? Because the Super PACs have spent $25.6 million on Orlando TV, and
> the cost of TV spots here has tripled.
>
>
> ---
>
>
> Whether you happen to agree with Alan Grayson's message or not, this looks
> like a clear example of a speech-chilling impact of unlimited campaign
> expenditures. It's almost like a tax on speech, as the there is only so
> much broadcast time to go around for political candidates, and the price
> has dramatically risen.
>
>
> Seems like this provides some evidence that unlimited expenditures aren't
> unambiguously pro-speech. Limiting expenditures by some can have the effect
> of permitting more speech by others - and now there's a growing factual
> record to prove it.
>
> Dan
>
> --
> Dan Johnson
> Partner
> Korey Cotter Heather Richardson LLC
>
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>
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>
>
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