I have just written this column for Findlaw. It begins:

Last week, the Obama campaign revealed that it had raised $150 million in September and another $36 million in the first half of October, and that it had spent more than $100 million in the first half of October alone. Do these figures indicate that our campaign finance system needs to be repaired before the 2012 elections, or that the system is a resounding success?
The answer, it turns out, depends upon what role you think money should play in politics and upon how you think campaign finance laws should be structured. From the point of view of political equality, there is much to celebrate about the Obama fundraising juggernaut, but there are some reasons to be cautious as well