The McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act puts severe limits on what people can say leading up to an election. For instance, you are not allowed to criticize a political candidate 30 days before a primary election and 60 days before a general election. When the law zipped through congress, pundits were hoping for a presidential veto. It didn't happen. (Actually, Bush has yet to veto any legislation.) When the fight got to the Supreme Court, pundits naturally assumed that the SCOTUS would overturn the passage on First Amendment grounds. Well, that didn't happen either.

The court also voted 5-4 to uphold restrictions on political ads in the weeks before an election. The television and radio ads often feature harsh attacks by one politician against another or by groups running commercials against candidates.

The groups they speak of are hard working people like you and me. They are often demonized as "special interest groups" and "attack ads", but they are basically just like minded people pooling their resources to wage a political battle. That is exactly the kind of behavior the First Amendment was designed to protect. The erosion of the First Amendment, means there are only a few Amendments left that haven't been eroded away over time.

Of course, the media is largely giving the decision a pass. All anyone can seem to talk about is that the soft money ban was upheld. Nevermind that both political parties have already found a way around the soft money ban, and it is pretty much useless no matter what the SCOTUS says.