ABSTRACT
In Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Election Commission, 518 US 604, the US Supreme Court found unconstitutional an element of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971 that restricted expenditures by political parties during the general election campaign of congressional candidates. In 1986, the Colorado Republican Party paid for radio ads attacking the presumptive Democratic nominee in the upcoming senatorial election. For Justice John Paul Stevens, dissenting from the Court's ruling and reasoning, it was precisely the potential for corruption that justified deference to the congressional perceptions expressed in the FECA. The element of the FECA provided a leveling of the electoral playing field and a cleansing of the political process. Parties are deserving of speech rights generally on par with those of individuals, the Court said in Cole- grove, as it chipped away further at the campaign finance restrictions of the FECA.
