Political Money and Freedom of Speech
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Freedom of Speech
Kathleen M. Sullivan*
INTRODUCTION
There is much talk about political money in the wake of the
1996 election. Some find the sheer volume of money spent
impressive: an estimated $3 billion on all elections, $660 million
on electing the Congress, and $1 billion on the presidential
election. Others focus on the questions raised about alleged
fund-raising activities that are forbidden by existing laws, such as
contributions to political parties by foreign nationals. Still others
focus on loopholes in the existing laws that allow their nullifi-
cation as a practical matter. Nearly all focus on the presumed
special influence of large contributors on political outcomes.'
Against this backdrop has arisen a hue and cry for campaign
finance reform. Senators McCain and Feingold have revived a
proposed Senate campaign finance reform bill that withered
under filibuster in the 104th Congress;' Representatives Shays
and Meehan have introduced comparable bipartisan legislation
in the House. President Clinton has endorsed those bills.- Newly
* Stanley Morrison Professor of Law, Stanford University. This Essay was originally the
Edward L. Barrett, Jr. Lecture on Constitutional Law, delivered at the University of Califor-
nia, Davis School of Law on February 13, 1997. The author is grateful for the hospitality of
Dean Bruce Wolk and the Law School on that occasion. For helpful comments, the author
thanks Alan Brownstein, Floyd Feeney, and participants in a GALA workshop organized by
Sanford Kadish at the University of California, Berkeley. For research assistance, the author
thanks Matthew Shors.
' See generally David E. Rosenbaum, In Political Money Game, the Year of Big Loopholes,
N.Y. TIMEs, Dec. 26, 1996, at Al (discussing amounts of money involved in 1996 cam-
paigns); Politicians for Rent, ECONOMIST, Feb. 8, 1997, 23 (discussing effects of money on
political campaigns).
' See Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 1997, S. 25, 105th Cong. (reintroducing
proposed measures to reform campaign financing); Senate Campaign Finance Reform Act
of 1996, S. 1219, 104th Cong. (proposing measures for campaign finance reform).
3 See Fxcerpts From the First News Conference of Clinton's Second Terr, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 29,
1997, at B6 [hereinafter Press Conference Excepts].
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