Apr. 18, 2006
The Ongoing Grapple with Money in Politics
By Chris Heagarty
RALEIGH – North Carolina knows all about nasty campaign ads, we just don't seem to know what to do about them.
We are famous, perhaps infamous, for some of our U.S. Senate campaign commercials. We've also seen our share of sham “issue ads”, commercials that are able to avoid the rules which regulate standard political advertising.
Now we've got a new demon plaguing us. You have no doubt heard of 527 groups and you've likely seen examples of their work, such as “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” assaulting John Kerry's Vietnam War record, and “America Coming Together” blasting George W. Bush.
Legally, 527s are supposed to engage only in voter mobilization and education efforts, and not urge voters to cast a ballot one way or another. But one man's “voter mobilization” is another man's thinly veiled partisan attack, with 527s often doing the dirty work as proxies for the candidates or parties.
North Carolina's legislature took some measures in 2004 to regulate 527 activity, but, worried about running afoul of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, they pulled up short of the kinds of regulations that would give state voters some measure of disclosure and accountability from these groups.
Perhaps not so coincidentally, North Carolina voters are now getting their mailboxes stuffed, and their telephone lines buzzing, with campaign messages from groups with positive sounding names making very negative claims.
The current battleground is in the state's Republican legislative primaries. If you are a Republican you've probably heard the story before, about how Rep. Richard Morgan (R-Moore) made a deal in 2003 with the current N.C. House Speaker Jim Black (D-Mecklenburg) to become co-speaker of the House. This infuriated several Republicans as a “sell out” while Morgan saw it as an opportunity to put some Republicans into powerful committee chairmanships.
Right or wrong, Morgan and his GOP allies were met in 2004 with opposition from a 527 backed by wealthy Raleigh businessman Art Pope. While several of his allies were defeated, Morgan retained his House seat, but this year he and others face a similar fight.
Pope's 527, called the “Republican Legislative Majority of North Carolina”, has been very active paying for ads and sending mail to Republican voters, criticizing Morgan and his supporters in the state House.
Morgan has pushed back, calling on the state to investigate whether illegal corporate contributions have been used to finance the 527. Morgan has also requested an order to stop the 527 ads critical of him.
But the ongoing feud between Morgan and Pope is about more than just these two men, or their party, and reflects a greater problem: the delicate balancing act of respecting the rights of speech while protecting the very integrity of our democracy.
No candidate is going to think that attacks against him or her are fair. Civic-minded citizens like Art Pope certainly have a right to express themselves politically and to be involved in the elections process.
At one time U.S. Supreme Court rulings such as Buckley v. Valeo restricted attempts to regulate how money was spent trying to influence elections – deciding that only ads using the “magic words” of elect, defeat, vote for, vote against, etc. could be regulated – making issue ads exempt from regulation.
However, more recent rulings such as McConnell v. FEC make it clear that “if ads are intended to influence the voters' decisions and have that effect” then “regulation is justified” and not a violation of the First Amendment.
While there must be an avenue for communicating opinions on issues and candidates, special interests, and the usually wealthy people that bankroll them should have to play by a fair set of rules and shouldn't have more rights than other players in the process.
With the McConnell ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that if it looks like a campaign ad, sounds like a campaign ad, and perhaps smells like a campaign ad, it's probably a campaign ad. As such, they have opened the door to sensible regulation of these 527 groups.
While it might be too late to rein in these 527 groups before the May 2 primary elections, the state legislature would be wise to act sooner rather than later to restore some order to this process.
Closing the 527 loophole is just one more way of making our elections about who has the better ideas, not just the biggest bank account.
Chris Heagarty is the executive director of the Raleigh-based N.C. Center for Voter Education, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing the quality of elections in North Carolina.
743 W. Johnson St.
Suite E
Raleigh, NC 27603
919.839.1200