Category Archives: campaigns

Adjusting for inflation, the figure is a mere 224% increase.

That’s a tidbit I’ve just calculated for the upcoming 2013 Supplement to Lowenstein, Hasen, & Tokaji, Election Law–Cases and Materials (5th ed. 2012).

Bob Bauer:

Rick Hasen recently published an interesting article on the legal remedies for malicious lying in politics. Richard L. Hasen, A Constitutional Right to Lie in Campaigns and Elections, 74 Mont. L. Rev. 53 (Winter 2013) . He fears that “false and misleading speech may be increasing” in a “highly charged partisan atmosphere, in which each side cannot agree upon the basic facts,” and that the media, including the burgeoning fact-checking corps, “are not able to meaningfully curb candidates’ lies and distortions.” Id. at 54. 55. Legal responses seem largely beyond reach, particularly after the Supreme Court’s decision in Alvarez v. United States, 132 S. Ct. 2537 (2012), which Hasen reads to indicate that “broad laws targeting false speech stand little chance of being upheld, regardless of topic.” Id. at 69.

Among several issues of note, one stands out as illustrating the complications besetting the current federal campaign finance structure. If there is more lying in politics, we might expect this to correlate with an increase in the number and activities of Super PACs. The link that comes most immediately to mind is the connection many draw between Super PAC advertising and hyperbolic campaign advertising. This may not be the only connection or even the key one. Federal candidates contending with proliferating false speech may also need Super PACs for their defense, for want under the regulatory regime of an alternative source of funds to deflect or manage maliciously false charges.

Los Angeles Lawyer on legal issues surrounding the use of songs in political campaigns.

and updating a post here.

NYT:

While awaiting an internal audit headed by a top Koch Industries executive, the brothers have rejected any notion of stepping back from electoral politics. Strikingly, after years of nurturing a political network and donor base largely independent from traditional Republican circles, the Kochs are planning to substantially increase their involvement in party affairs.

They have not yet decided whether to intervene in Republican primaries, people involved in the discussions say. But the brothers want their network to play a bigger role in cultivating and promoting Republican candidates who hew to their vision of conservatism, emphasizing smaller government and deregulation more than immigration and social issues. They are also seeking closer control over groups within their network, purging or downgrading those that did not deliver last year and expanding financing for those that performed well.

Dylan Byers (non-anonymously) blogs.

NYT: “Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo. They laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy to shift the country toward a smaller government with less regulation and taxes. Three years ago, Charles and David Koch, the billionaire industrialists and supporters of libertarian causes, held a seminar of like-minded, wealthy political donors at the St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colo. They laid out a three-pronged, 10-year strategy to shift the country toward a smaller government with less regulation and taxes. Other than financing a few fringe libertarian publications, the Kochs have mostly avoided media investments. Now, Koch Industries, the sprawling private company of which Charles G. Koch serves as chairman and chief executive, is exploring a bid to buy the Tribune Company’s eight regional newspapers, including The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, The Orlando Sentinel and The Hartford Courant.”

i missed this extensive Tom Edsall piece from last week.

NYT reports.

LA Times:

Organizing for Action, President Obama’s nonprofit advocacy organization, has sought to be nimble as it ramps up a national effort to back his agenda on gun control measures and immigration reform.

But it appears the group didn’t move swiftly enough to protect its presence online.

An arbitrator has denied the organization’s effort to obtain the domain name organizingforaction.net, registered by a quick-moving computer technician in Castle Rock, Colo., on Jan. 18, when the news broke that Obama’s former advisors were launching the group.

Derek Bovard proceeded to configure the site so all the hits were directed to the website for the National Rifle Assn. It was one of three domain names for Organizing for Action that the group failed to register before it launched.

There may never be a time to read this story from CPI.  Act now before it’s too late!

Robin Kelly wins primary.

Steven Andre has posted this draft on BE Press (Administrative Law Review).  Here is the abstract:

The constitutional issue presented by government partisanship in elections is becoming increasingly significant for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high Court’s decisions in Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Citizens United v. FEC and Pleasant Grove City v. Summum shed significant light on how the high Court would handle the government campaigning question if it should ever accept review on the issue. This article reviews lower court treatment of the problem and describes the U.S. Supreme Court’s analysis of election and First Amendment concerns and applies that analysis to the question of partisan government expenditures during election contests.