[EL] OFA: A Shot Heard 'round the World?

[Steve Hoersting]

I don't mean to suggest the Reformers have not criticized this development,
Rick. They have, and have their kept their integrity on these issues. An
earlier post of mine -- "Organizing for Action means its over..." -- was an
Ode to Fred Wertheimer, of sorts; an olive branch in hopes of arriving at a
common understanding.

I mean to suggest with this latest post the following: Because OFA
unquestionably may proceed under the First Amendment, all the while
carrying the potential to offer policy favors to donors through its leader,
President Obama, the *quid pro quo* formulation underpinning the party
committee soft money ban in *McConnell*, as well as the *quid pro
quo*formulation that limits contributions to candidates -- who,
through
election, may one day obtain the same power to grant policy favors as the
President -- is now in real trouble. Or, ought to be, anyway.

This dynamic is now plain as day: Nothing clarifies the jurisprudence in
this area quite like the launch of OFA can.

My hope that more people will write about it -- indeed, that they are
polishing drafts as I type this response -- in addition to Fred and you is
a measure of how profound an effect on jurisprudence I think the OFA
development really is.

All the best,

Steve

On Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 10:51 AM, Rick Hasen <rhasen at law.uci.edu> wrote:

>  Steve,
> Your piece seems to suggest that those supporting campaign finance reform
> have not criticized OFA and that the criticisms have gotten no support in
> the media.  I do not believe this is correct.  See, for example, the strong
> statement of Fred Wertheimer here:
>
> http://www.democracy21.org/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC=
> {91FCB139-CC82-4DDD-AE4E-3A81E6427C7F}&DE={DDF1330F-89EB-4A64-8CDC-DDF559325F4F}
>
> You can also see critical statements from Fred, Paul Ryan of the Campaign
> Legal Center, and from me in the recent Politico piece:
>
>
> http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=A842EE4B-ABD2-472F-84FE-88CC580A7480
>
>
>  This is unprecedented as far as I know,” said Democracy 21’s Fred
> Wertheimer, a longtime advocate of tighter campaign finance laws. “It’s
> directly tied to the president and they have said the president could raise
> money for it. … It’s a vehicle for people looking to buy influence to
> provide direct financial benefits to support the president’s interests.”
>
> “It has all the earmarks of an institutionalized disaster,” Wertheimer
> said. “They ought to shut this down and they ought to shut it down quickly
> because, regardless of what their intentions were or are, this is nothing
> but trouble and will be extremely damaging to the administration and to the
> president over time.”
>
> “The notion that Obama would be involved with OFA’s fundraising is very
> troubling and amounts largely to a retreat from the position President
> Obama has taken throughout the entirety of his public life. … to reduce the
> influence of money in politics,” said Paul Ryan of the Campaign Legal
> Center.
>
> “Unless the group discloses in the same way disclosure is required of
> super PACs for purposes of federal election-related activity, it would not
> only be hypocritical of the president, it would be damaging,” said Rick
> Hasen, a professor of election law at the University of California-Irvine.
>
>
>
> On 2/5/2013 6:46 AM, Steve Hoersting wrote:
>
> As a matter of jurisprudence, the advent of Organizing for Action
> clarifies like nothing else can.
>
> http://rightsolutions.org/2013/02/05/ofa-a-shot-heard-round-the-world/
>
> --
> Stephen M. Hoersting
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Law-election mailing listLaw-election at department-lists.uci.eduhttp://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>
>
> --
> Rick Hasen
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
> UC Irvine School of Law
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
> Irvine, CA 92697-8000
> 949.824.3072 - office
> 949.824.0495 - fax
> rhasen at law.uci.edu
> http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
> http://electionlawblog.org
>



-- 
Stephen M. Hoersting
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20130205/96efd1f7/attachment.html>