But often overlooked is the extent to which the pro-campaign finance reform community has suffered in Washington. Of the four biggest backers of the original reform measure that passed in 2002, three of them — former Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and Reps. Christopher Shays, D-Conn., and Martin Meehan, D-Mass. — have lost reelection bids or retired. Only Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is still in office; and since his 2008 presidential campaign, he has not put forward follow-up legislation.
Even a hard push from McCain and his reform allies wouldn’t do much good, because the real obstacle to any new campaign finance legislation comes from the man who leads McCain’s conference. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led the initial opposition to McCain-Feingold; he was the lead plaintiff in the first major challenge to the law, a 2003 case in which the Supreme Court upheld the legislation’s ban on soft money in most cases.