[EL] CLC Head in the Sand

[Ray La Raja]

Paul,  
Regarding the data on party money, my understanding from the Center for Responsive Politics is that the figures you referred to in your original post inflate party fundraising significantly because they don't exclude the transfers between party committees.  When these are backed out party financing has declined in presidential cycles  (though not precipitously) from a high of $1.8 billion in 2004 to just under $1.6 billion in 2012 (adjusted for 2012 dollars).  The percentage decline has been deeper in midterm elections going from a high of $1.5 billion in 2002 to $1.2 billion in 2010.  The latter is especially surprising since it was a year in which control over Congress was in play.  Party fundraising was also down in 2006 when Democrats took over compared to 2002.  Non-party fundraising has gone up throughout this period, although I don't have the numbers in front of me.
Ray 

Ray La Raja
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
http://polsci.umass.edu/profiles/la-raja_ray/home

On Mar 26, 2013, at 6:11 PM, Paul Ryan <PRyan at campaignlegalcenter.org> wrote:

> Thanks, Jim.  I have a few thoughts and questions in response.
>  
> First, what’s the basis for your assertion that the CLC “opposed raising the contribution limit from $1,000 to $2,000 for candidates in McCain-Feingold”?  The McCain-Feingold law was enacted in March 2002.  The CLC wasn’t incorporated until January 2002 and took a few months to get up and running.  As far as I know, the CLC didn’t do any advocacy work with respect to the McCain-Feingold law and didn’t oppose the contribution limit increase.  On the contrary, once CLC was up and running, it served as part of the legal team representing the law’s principal Congressional sponsors (McCain, Feingold, Shays, Meehan, Snowe, Jeffords) as defendant-intervenors in McConnell v. FEC, defending the law in its entirety—including the increased contribution limit.  For example, here’s a link to the section of our district court brief defending the increased contribution limit (beginning on p. 208).  Is there some CLC history that I’m unaware of?
>  
> Second, regarding national party fundraising, I relied on data reported by the parties to the FEC for the piece I wrote for the CLC blog.  You dismiss the fact that parties have continually raised more and more money post-McCain-Feingold, asserting that these data don’t matter because even though “national political parties ‘raised more money,’ they had less money to spend on politics.”  I’m open to this possibility; will you point me to the data you’re relying on for your analysis?  You lament the cost of prospect mail, other direct mail and telemarketing—old-school forms of fundraising—while the RNC’s report describes “direct mail prospecting” as “low cost.”  What does your data show about the use of even less expensive Internet-based fundraising techniques?  Does your data show differences in fundraising strategies and costs between parties?  Is Internet-based fundraising on the rise?  How does the RNC’s plan to “significantly work to grow its digital fundraising efforts” impact your analysis?
>  
> Third, I’m happy to read your acknowledgement that “relative influence” matters when it comes to money in politics.  For years I’ve thought you objected to any public interest in a level campaign finance playing field, but in your email today you explain that what matters is “the total spending in each [election] and the national parties share.”  You complain that the “national political parties are not keeping pace so their relative influence has declined.”  Shouldn’t we also be concerned about the total spending in each election and the average person’s share, because the average person is not keeping pace with wealthy donors and the average person’s relative influence has declined?  Of course, the average person can’t afford to make a contribution anywhere close to the current $32,400 limit on contributions to national party committees, so it’s difficult to imagine how repealing the limit would increase the “relative influence” of the average person.
>  
> Best,
>  
> Paul Seamus Ryan
> Senior Counsel
> The Campaign Legal Center
> 215 E Street NE
> Washington, DC 20002
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>  
> From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of JBoppjr at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 11:48 AM
> To: rhasen at law.uci.edu; law-election at uci.edu
> Subject: [EL] CLC Head in the Sand
>  
> Regarding the recent press release from the CLC, which should have be entitled "CLC Keeps its Head in the Sand, no matter what":
> “GOP Heading Back to the Future”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:06 pm by Rick Hasen
> Paul Ryan of CLC:
> 
> Last week the Republican National Committee published its Growth & Opportunity Project report “provid[ing] an honest review of the 2012 election cycle and a path forward for the Republican Party to ensure success in winning more elections.” When it comes to campaign finance policy, the RNC apparently believes that the path forward is a journey back in time to the pre-McCain-Feingold era, claiming that “the free speech rights of political parties and federal candidates remain smothered by McCain-Feingold” and recommending that a variety of contribution limits applicable to political party committees and federal candidates be repealed or increased.
> 
> Contrary to the RNC’s claim that the party’s free speech rights have been “smothered by McCain-Feingold,” the party raised more money during the 2012 election cycle than ever before. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party each raised more than $1 billion during the 2012 cycle, shattering previous fundraising totals both pre- and post-McCain Feingold. With regard to fundraising, the parties seem to be doing just fine under existing limits.
> 
> There are so many errors and so little time:
>  
> (1) CLC compares apples and oranges. The cost of fundraising is much less for high dollar than low dollar fundraising.  What is important is the net.  Prospect mail generally does not pay for itself but it is expensive and runs up the total expenses by the group with no net money to spend.  Raising money from small donors by direct mail and telemarketing is also expensive.  So while national political parties "raised more money," they had less money to spend on politics.
>  
> (2) The proper comparison is not with the national party spending from election cycle to election cycle but the total spending in each and the national parties share.  Of course, this amount is skyrocketing, mainly as a result of Super PAC (see other CLC press releases).  The national political parties are not keeping pace so their relative influence has declined.  Same with candidates.
>  
> (3) Of course, it would be worse if the CLC got its way.  They opposed raising the contribution limit from $1,000 to $2,000 for candidates in McCain-Feingold screaming that we would be awash in candidates selling their votes.  Of course that has not happened, just like in states without any contribution limits at all.  After all, you cannot even buy a Democrat Congressman for $2,500 these days. The anecdotal evidence is $99,000 in cold hard cash (Congressman Jefferson) to $140,000 (Duke Cunningham) to at least buy one.
>  
> (4) Finally, CLC also says that large contributions to Super PACs are corrupting so in their universe there is corruption either way. But voters cannot vote against Super PACs but can vote against candidates or candidates of a particular political party.  So at least if we raise candidate and political party contribution limits, if CLC is right, then voters can at least vote against them.
>  
> Jim Bopp
>  
> In a message dated 3/26/2013 11:06:28 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, rhasen at law.uci.edu writes:
> “Same-sex marriage: Court on the couch”
> 
> Posted on March 26, 2013 8:05 am by Rick Hasen
> I have written this piece for Reuters Opinion.  It begins:
> 
> Will Justice Anthony Kennedy’s support for a constitutional right to gay marriage doom the constitutionality of affirmative action and a key provision of the Voting Rights Act?  To answer this question, legal scholars need to know less about constitutional law and more about human psychology.
> 
> Consider  last year, when Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, for example, surprisingly sided with the court’s four liberal members in upholding President Barack Obama’s healthcare law against constitutional challenge. It was a stunning choice for the conservative jurist. The reaction of Nate Persily, a leading U.S. election law scholar, was: “There goes the Voting Rights Act.”
> 
> At first, the connection between the two cases may seem tenuous. They don’t involve the same issues. The healthcare case was based on Congress’s power to regulate commerce and to tax. In Shelby County v. Holder, heard last month and expected to be decided in June, the court is considering whether Congress’s power to enforce equal rights, especially in voting, includes the power to continue federal oversight of elections in certain states that have a history of racial discrimination.
> 
> But Persily’s observation seems correct, and it illustrates how Supreme Court watchers often use amateur psychoanalysis of the justices. For example, a chief justice, feeling constrained by public opinion or concerned about the court’s legacy, may give in on one case in order to gain more political capital to spend on another controversial case.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in Supreme Court, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off
> “Split Senate backs bill reining in ‘dark money’”
> 
> Posted on March 26, 2013 7:31 am by Rick Hasen
> The latest from Montana.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off
> “McDonnell signs bill requiring photo ID for voting”
> 
> Posted on March 26, 2013 7:27 am by Rick Hasen
> Richmond Times Dispatch: “Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed legislation requiring voters to present photo ID at the polls.”
> 
> The law now requires approval from DOJ or a court under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
> 
>  
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off
> “Ex-lawmakers go to lobbying-related jobs”
> 
> Posted on March 26, 2013 7:23 am by Rick Hasen
> USA Today reports.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in legislation and legislatures, lobbying | Comments Off
> “Public Citizen Applauds 70 Members of Congress Who Urge the SEC to Require Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 4:50 pm by Rick Hasen
> The following statement from Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen arrived via email:
> 
> Public Citizen applauds the 70 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), who sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today urging it to follow through on its stated agenda and require disclosure of political spending by corporations.
> 
> Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, corporations have been able to spend money freely on elections, and often do so by giving funds to “dark money” organizations not required to disclose the identities of their donors. But investors have a right to know how their money – a corporation’s profits –– is being spent. The trouble is, there is no requirement that companies share this information.
> 
> The letter stated:
> 
> “Some companies have taken the initiative to publicly disclose their political spending which illustrates not only the ease with which it can be accomplished but also the acceptance of many prominent and large corporations. Unfortunately, however, other companies have kept their shareholders in the dark and unaware that their money could be funding political activities, or even political attack ads. The rights of shareholders must be protected.”
> 
> The SEC has received a record-breaking deluge of 490,000 comments urging disclosure of political spending. In addition, a Zogby International poll commissioned by the Center for Economic Development found that 77 percent of business leaders said that corporations should disclose all of their direct and indirect political expenditures. The SEC has taken the public and investor demand for greater disclosure into account and has begun to consider a rulemaking in response.
> 
> These members of Congress have it right; the SEC can and should move this rule forward. It is critical both for democracy and the rights of the marketplace investor.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off
> “‘Battleground Texas’ Still Many Years Away”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 4:44 pm by Rick Hasen
> This item appears at the FairVote blog.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in political parties, political polarization | Comments Off
> “3 things Beavers’ trial revealed about Illinois political cash”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:10 pm by Rick Hasen
> WBEZ reports.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off
> “Arkansas governor vetoes bill requiring voters to show photo identification at polls”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:09 pm by Rick Hasen
> AP reports.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in election administration, The Voting Wars, voter id | Comments Off
> “GOP Heading Back to the Future”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:06 pm by Rick Hasen
> Paul Ryan of CLC:
> 
> Last week the Republican National Committee published its Growth & Opportunity Project report “provid[ing] an honest review of the 2012 election cycle and a path forward for the Republican Party to ensure success in winning more elections.”  When it comes to campaign finance policy, the RNC apparently believes that the path forward is a journey back in time to the pre-McCain-Feingold era, claiming that “the free speech rights of political parties and federal candidates remain smothered by McCain-Feingold” and recommending that a variety of contribution limits applicable to political party committees and federal candidates be repealed or increased.
> 
> Contrary to the RNC’s claim that the party’s free speech rights have been “smothered by McCain-Feingold,” the party raised more money during the 2012 election cycle than ever before.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party each raised more than $1 billion during the 2012 cycle, shattering previous fundraising totals both pre- and post-McCain Feingold.  With regard to fundraising, the parties seem to be doing just fine under existing limits.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in campaign finance, political parties | Comments Off
> “Hiroshima Court Rules Election Invalid”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:05 pm by Rick Hasen
> WSJ: “In a landmark ruling Monday, a Hiroshima court ruled the results of the December lower-house election invalid in two districts due to the disproportionate weighting of votes in those districts.”
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in redistricting | Comments Off
> “Equal Protection Challenge to Virginia’s Felony Disenfranchisement Provision Survives Summary Judgment”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:04 pm by Rick Hasen
> State of Elections: “The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Friday granted the State’s summary judgment motion on substantive and procedural due process challenges to Virginia’s voter reinstatement process for convicted felons, as well as an Eight Amendment challenge to the disenfranchisement of felons as cruel and unusual punishment. The court did, however, deny summary judgment on El-Amin’s Equal Protection challenge of lifetime felon disenfranchisement in Virginia.”
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in felon voting | Comments Off
> “What secret e-mails from Enron teach us about influencing politicians”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:02 pm by Rick Hasen
> Interesting post at WonkBlog by Dan Hopkins.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in campaign finance, legislation and legislatures, lobbying | Comments Off
> “The Voting Rights Act should be left alone”
> 
> Posted on March 25, 2013 1:00 pm by Rick Hasen
> Gregory Craig has written this WaPo oped.
> 
> <image001.png>
> Posted in Supreme Court, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off
> -- 
> Rick Hasen
> Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
> UC Irvine School of Law
> 401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
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> 
> 
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