More CU fallout, as I predicted (“Justice Kennedy acknowledges that with the ‘soft money’ limits on political parties still in place, third-party groups (which tend to run more negative and irresponsible ads) will increase in strength relative to political parties. And that possibility raises the real chance Congress will repeal the ‘soft money’ limits, thereby increasing the risks of quid pro quo corruption.”).
When did the DNC and RNC get “depowered”? Gary Jacobson’s festschrift paper shows that the parties adapted quite nicely to the McCain-Feingold soft money limits–they were never depowered. How they react to CU is still up for debate.