How Citizens United Affects State and Local Government

The Public Law Journal:

Local governments can still establish candidate contribution limits and impose robust reporting requirements.

While the predictions of an overwhelming influx of corporate spending and the effectiveness of corporate messaging could not be fully understood until after this year’s midterm election, the impacts of Citizens United nevertheless began to be felt in court decisions, the reactions of regulators, and in the experiences of corporations that have begun to engage the public in this forum heretofore unavailable to them. This article examines how Citizens United has informed later decisions in the Ninth Circuit, the reaction of California state and local regulators, and the experiences of corporations as more visible political players.

Five myths about Sarah Palin

Washington Post: "When Palin returned to Alaska after the 2008 campaign, she confronted three problems. The political coalition on which she had based her governorship -- a combination of Democrats and renegade "Palinista" Republicans -- had collapsed. Her critics were using Alaska's tough ethics laws to launch investigations into her behavior, sapping her finances and her energy. Finally, every time she traveled to the Lower 48, Alaskans criticized her for putting her political interests above the state's."

Campaign finance reform: R.I.P.?

Politico: ""It's no secret that the reformers are on the run — they've gotten pounded in the courts and also have not been very successful legislatively," said Brad Smith, chairman of the Center for Competitive Politics, a nonprofit that opposes many campaign regulations and that has had a hand in several recent important court cases striking down such rules.

Only a decade ago, the campaign finance movement achieved one of its greatest victories: the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which reformers saw as a foundation they would build upon in the years ahead."

The Primary Purpose of McCain-Feingold Revealed

Cato: In other words, if Feingold's campaign finance law had not proven to be contrary to the U.S. Constitution, he might well not be facing "an uphill battle" to serve a fourth term in Washington. The political speech that is causing Feingold problems would have been prohibited in that situation. But the First Amendment favors speech and not the re-election needs of senators.

EDITORIAL: Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate - The Fresno Bee Endorses Carly Fiorina

Image via Wikipediafresnobee.com: "We wish Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer would spend more time seeking bipartisan solutions to the nation's problems and be more open to political compromise.

The biggest problem in Washington, D.C., is strident partisanship, and an unwillingness to work with the opposing party to solve the problems facing the nation. Boxer has gone so far left that moderates can't see her in the distance. She seems to be caught up in Washington's gotcha politics, more interested in beating Republicans than focusing on what's best for California and the nation."

Related articles

• Calif. candidates flex political muscles (abclocal.go.com)
• Will Fiorina surge in California? (powerlineblog.com)

O'Donnell Still a Mystery to Voters Despite Fame

ABC News: "Her win, despite unusually strong opposition from the GOP establishment, set up a clear test of tea party strength in a general election. Castle, a moderate, was heavily favored to beat Democrat Chris Coons in November and put Republicans one seat closer to the majority. O'Donnell is an underdog, struggling to gain appeal beyond her conservative base."

Related articles

• Despite new fame, O'Donnell faces skeptical voters (sfgate.com)
• O'Donnell still a mystery to voters despite fame (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Poll shows O'Donnell trailing in Del. Senate race (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

POLL: Republicans lead widely; Dems in danger but race for the House tight

TheHill.com: "In a poll of 12 hotly contested races that could decide who controls the House in the 112th Congress, Republican challengers are beating freshman Democrats in 11 — and in the last one, the race is tied.
But The Hill/America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) poll also detected a glimmer of light for Democrats; not one of the 12 Republican challengers has reached 50 percent, and half of them have leads so small that they are within the margin of error."

Related articles

• Poll: Dem leads Republican in open Del. House seat (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• New The Hill Poll: 12 Freshman Democrat Held Districts Show Major GOP Gains (chicagonow.com)
• The Hill: Democrats Could Lose House But It's Not Over Yet (themoderatevoice.com)

Competitiveness in national elections does not trickle down to state level

Ballotnews: "77.3% of incumbents faced no primary challenger. Of the 1,133 incumbents who did face a primary, only 95 were defeated by the challenger. Thus, 91.6% of all incumbents who faced a primary opponent won their primary. But, if all 4,985 incumbents who elected to run for re-election are counted, only 1.9% of incumbents did not make it to the general election."

Gretta van Susteren DESTROYS Gloria Allred on Meg Whitman/illegal immigrant case (VIDEO)

Fox News Video via Hot Air: "Greta van Susteren calls Gloria Allred “insane” and “delusional,” and even gets Allred to admit at one point that her client, illegal immigrant Nicki Santillan, won’t ever end up in court on this complaint. Susteren calls Allred’s ethics into question for exposing the woman and her children — “putting a big neon sign” on them, in van Susteren’s words — for a case that Allred not only admits she can’t win but won’t even survive to an actual trial. Meanwhile, Allred keeps insisting that Meg Whitman lied about the letter that her husband saw seven years ago, and van Susteren keeps insisting that any judge or jury would laugh her out of court for that assertion on the basis of a quick note scribbled on the letter by her spouse."

How Selection Methods Shape Their Policy Preferences and Affect Voter Turnout

SSRN- by Barry Burden, David Canon, Stéphane Lavertu, Ken Mayer, Donald Moynihan: "The method by which we select public officials can have a significant effect on their incentives, the constraints they face, and ultimately the policy goals they pursue. We explore this phenomenon using election administration as a case. We examine differences in the policy preferences among elected and appointed election officials, and explore the relationship between those attitudes and the administrative outcomes they may engender. We employ a uniquely rich dataset that includes the survey responses of over 1,200 Wisconsin election officials, structured interviews with dozens of these officials, and data from the 2008 presidential election. Drawing upon a natural experiment in how clerks are selected, we find that elected officials support policies that emphasize voter access rather than ballot security, and that their municipalities are associated with higher voter turnout. For appointed officials, we find that voter turnout in a municipality is noticeably lower when the local election official’s partisanship differs from the partisanship of the electorate. Overall, our results support the notion that selection methods, and the incentives that flow from those methods, matter a great deal. Elected officials are more likely to express attitudes and generate outcomes that reflect their direct exposure to voters, in contrast to the more insulated position of appointed officials."


See also passage in House of H.R. 512 this week, 296 - 129.  CRS Summary: Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to make it unlawful for a chief state election administration official to take active part in political management or in a political campaign with respect to any election for federal office over which the official has supervisory authority. Waives application of this Act if the chief state election administration official himself or herself, or an immediate family member, is a candidate.

Related links

• "Election Officials: How Selection Methods Shape Their Policy Preferences and Affect Voter Turnout" (electionlawblog.org)
• The Persistence of Partisan Election Administration (moritzlaw.osu.edu)
• CA SOS Debra Bowen on passage of H.R. 512

What Happens To Health Law If GOP Wins Congress?

NPR: Just as several provisions of the new health care law went into effect this week, Republicans unveiled a campaign agenda that vows to repeal the overhaul and replace it with far more limited changes.
But could Republicans really get rid of the law?
The answer is probably not, NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner tells guest host Mary Louise Kelly on Weekend Edition Saturday.

Reid, Angle Stay Tied In Nevada Senate Race Despite Barrage Of Attack Ads

Huffington Post: "A barrage of attack ads from both sides has done zilch to yield a front-runner in Nevada's heated Senate race, according to a new poll that shows voters remain evenly split between Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican challenger Sharron Angle."

Related articles

• Reid and Angle Tied in Nevada Senate Race (realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com)
• Reid/Angle Race Remains Tight (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Reid, Angle stay tied in race for US Senate (sfgate.com)
• Nevada Senate Race in Dead Heat (newsy.com)
• Still Dead Even in Nevada (politicalwire.com)

Third-party candidates could tip close elections

RealClearPolitics: "Whether they are sore losers or never-say-die patriots, third-party candidates threaten to tip a handful of congressional and gubernatorial races to contenders who otherwise might have lost this fall."

Related articles

• Mapping Third-Party Spending (thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com)

Republicans Better at Social Media

HeadCount: According to a study, Republicans are much more adept at connecting to their base via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

While Democratic U.S. Senate candidates have a little less than 300,000 followers on Facebook, their Republican counterparts have 1.43 million “fans.” On Twitter, 520,000 people follow Republican candidates for Senate, whereas only 90,000 follow Democratic candidates.

Related articles

• Republicans Dominate Democrats in Social Media (fastcompany.com)
• Study: Voters Expect Politicians to be Active on Social Networks...Are they Listening? (socialtimes.com)

Romney on Today

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