One More Reason to Tell Rick Santorum to Go to Hell
Former Reason intern and current New York Post columnist Ryan Sager has a sharp piece about how conservative Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) is using campaign-finance laws to attack a newspaper:
…Santorum grows more embarrassing to his party and to his home state of Pennsylvania every day.
No, he's not out comparing homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality again; nor is he writing another book blaming America's social ills on "radical feminists."
This time, he's waging a campaign of harassment and intimidation against a local newspaper that he and his handlers apparently see as a threat. Their weapon of choice: campaign-finance law–specifically, McCain-Feingold.
Turns out the Scranton Times-Tribune is running an ad campaign featuring Santorum's rival in a tough senate race, Bob Casey Jr., in a mocked up page reading "Casey to run for Senate." The National Republican Senatorial Committee, with backing from the Santorum campaign, is, writes Sager, "very publicly threatening to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission" on the grounds the ads are illegal donations to the Casey campaign.
Sager rightly calls this sort of action "nonsense" and notes that this sort of intimidation is on the rise:
* In 2004, CBS News was hit with an FEC complaint alleging that its (erroneous) story on Bush's National Guard service was a contribution to the Kerry campaign.
* The Sinclair Broadcast Group was hit by an FEC complaint for running an anti-John Kerry documentary two weeks before Election Day.
* Michael Moore was forced to curtail TV advertising for his anti-Bush film "Fahrenheit 9/11," lest it run afoul of McCain-Feingold's ban on ads mentioning candidates' names too close to Election Day.
* Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) filed an FEC complaint against a radio station in California for its "Fire Dreier" campaign in 2004, which took aim at his stance on immigration.
* Just last month, a judge in Washington ruled that two local talk-radio jocks had made an undisclosed campaign contribution to an anti-gas-tax ballot initiative by supporting it on their radio shows.
The FEC or higher courts eventually throw out most of this harassment. But that won't necessarily always be the case. And the harassment itself is a major problem. It means legal bills and PR headaches for the media outlets and others involved. And it gives campaigns, already addicted to hurling petty insults and charges at each other, one more big rock to throw.
Whole col here.
Reason's Matt Welch talked with former FEC head Brad Smith about the inanities of campaign-finance laws here.
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Support Santorum’s opponent, Bob Casey, in the 2006 election by going to this website.
Better idea:
Someone put a burning bag of “Santorum” on Rick’s doorstep then knock on his door.
Which SCOTUS decision from the Rehnquist era was the worst? Is it:
A) Kelo v. New London
B) Gonzales v. Raich
C) McConnell v. FEC
D) _______
Santorum could very well be playing a game of reducto absurdum or hoist by thine own petard here. His reputation obviously cannot suffer but the result of these hit’n’run attacks might be to question why a democracy would leave all these loaded weapons all over the political landscape. As long as we continue to pretend we can regulate political speech Santorum won’t be the silliest participant in this pig wrestling match. [Never wrestle with a pig; the pig enjoys it and observers cannot tell you apart.]
Have I mentioned that I don’t like Rick Santorum? He is a special kind of creepy. The Jon Stewart interview gave me cold chills. He isn’t defensive at all, and he speaks with the conviction of someone who knows that many people agree with him. I’d much rather see a guy of his political persuasion scream and rant so I didn’t have to worry about them.
Wow, I’d never seen spam in here before. This sucks.
Moderator?
MP,
Oooh ooooh I know. It’s D, all of the above
As much as I’d sooner invite the Manson family over for dinner as make eye contact with senator frothing mixture. I can’t fault Ricky for asking that the law be enforced. This isn’t a perversion of either the spirit or language of McCain-Feingold, it’s exactly the sort of thing it was created to put a stop to. And according to the SCOTUS, the first amendment is just fine with it.
With the exception of the square-jawed busybody from Arizona, it isn’t the Republican who are primarily responsible for the dreck known as McCain-Feingold. Not that it will stop them from employing it to their advantage, of course.
Will Allen:
I don’t know, I recall it being pretty bipartisan. And Bush signed it — for which I think he really should be impeached.