{news} NYT editorial on ACLU/CT campaign finance lawsuit

[David Bedell]

This editorial supports minor party rights, but not the other parts of the
lawsuit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/opinion/nyregionopinions/CTcampaign.1.html

The New York Times

September 24, 2006
Connecticut

Destroying a Law to Save It

The story of Connecticut's campaign finance law is beginning to resemble a
dark fairy tale that leaves the reader wondering whether the infant at a
christening will be strangled in its cradle. In the latest twist, the
American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut is playing the unlikely role
of villain.

In July, the organization challenged the law, which the General Assembly
passed in the wake of corruption scandals in the Rowland administration.The
A.C.L.U. says it is suing because the statute discriminates against
third-party candidates by making them jump one extra hurdle, forcing them to
get hundreds and sometimes thousands of signatures before they can qualify
for public funds.

If the A.C.L.U. challenged the law on that basis alone, we would have no
argument. But it also complains that the law violates the rights of
candidates who opt out of the system of public financing because the more
they raise in private money, the more their opponents receive in public
money. The A.C.L.U. says that government has an obligation to remain neutral
and not use the public financing law to tilt the playing field one way or
the other.

Yet the law was passed precisely for that purpose - to level the playing
field by giving all candidates a shot at public money. The compensatory
financing provision is more than reasonable; without it, campaign finance
reform would not work. Candidates who choose to take generous donations from
lobbyists and other sources could bury publicly financed candidates unless
the law provided those candidates more public money to underwrite credible
campaigns.

The A.C.L.U. agrees in general that campaign finance laws are a good thing.
But the reality is that if the organization is able to get this core
provision struck down, it will come close to wrecking the best chance
Connecticut has to clean up politics.


Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company