Court ruling on campaign spending could pay off for GOP

Unfettered corporate contributions, coming on top of the Massachusetts Senate vote, may spell a double whammy for Democrats in congressional midterm elections.

By Tom Hamburger and James Oliphant
LA Times
January 22, 2010

Reporting from Washington

The Supreme Court's decision Thursday to wipe out most campaign spending limits, coming on top of the Massachusetts Senate race upset, could prove to be a major blow to Democrats and a boost to Republicans in the November midterm elections.

The Massachusetts vote, which ended the Democrats' filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate, is already reverberating through lobbying and business-oriented interest groups. Some are rethinking their willingness to cooperate with President Obama on such contentious issues as healthcare and the environment.

And the court decision, which ends a long-standing ban on direct corporate campaign spending, is expected to swell the already substantial flow of money from business groups into Republican coffers.

"The Supreme Court just predetermined the winners of next November's elections," an angry Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "It won't be Republicans. It won't be Democrats. It will be corporate America."

(More here.)