Whining about 527s

Mr President, when you signed McCain-Feingold into law, you either knew what you were signing and signed it anyway for the votes, or you didn't know what you were signing, in which case you should have vetoed it.

Sir, you have no right to complain about the effect that law had on how political speech is now bought and paid for, or who's buying or paying. And I suspect that the votes you thought you were gaining by signing McCain-Feingold won't be there anyway. Those voters aren't your kind.

It's going to get worse before it gets better; now 501(c)'s are going to get scrutiny from FEC as well as IRS. NRA is very unhappy about the curtailment of their political speech, for example, and President Bush is going to need NRA to win four more years.

A possible upside, though, to the likely reelection of the President: it may prove to the activists, to Congress, and to the attentive voter that elections cannot necessarily be bought. If George W Bush wins a second term, while being outspent two or three Soros dollars to his one, maybe we can build the case to the American people that campaign finance reform isn't even needed: when Americans vote they follow their hearts and minds, not advertiser-bought eyeballs.

Changing how campaigns are financed has not improved our political processes. Then we must answer the question, then what will?