It is no secret that the campaign finance debate has become fruitless and repetitious – – in short, exhausted. Mark Schmitt of the New America Foundation, a powerful progressive voice on reform, is one among a number of who believes that the entire question should be rethought from scratch. He has published a paper through a collaborative effort of the Brennan Center for Justice and the New America Foundation, arguing for a new framework built around a conception of political opportunity. He should win a large audience for what he says about the staleness and inaccuracies in the policy debate, and for the suggestions he makes for a change in direction.

Writing off the Koch announcement of massive 2016 spending, Ron Fournier urges that we be realistic about campaign finance reform in the 21st century: no limits, just instant disclosure. He seems to be salvaging what he can from the current mishmash of changes in political practices, outdated campaign finance requirements and increasingly unsparing limits on Congress's constitutional authority. Without a sharp focus on disclosure, he argues, the 2016 election will go largely dark.

Fournier’s analysis has two considerable virtues: a call for the debate to adjust to constitutional and political realities and an emphasis on single-minded priority in the reform of the law. The debate is stuck, and one reason is that a fair number of interested observers are dedicated to fighting the same arguments heard since the 1970s. A whole host of objectives are being kept artificially alive for discussion. Political spending is to be reduced and the prohibition on corporate spending restored. Independent spending is to be curtailed because some of it is suspect, gutted by disreputable, if not invariably illegal, forms of coordination. Political discourse is being poisoned by attack advertising.

And, of course, there is too much "dark money" and disclosure law should be strengthened against it. Here is where Fournier recommends that reform energy be expended.

Restrictions on the timing of campaign finance activity have met with mixed results in the courts. The injunction just issued in Houston blocks a ban on candidate fundraising in municipal elections to have taken effect except for the period beginning February of each election year through early the following year. Gordon v. City of Houston, No. 14-CV-3146 (S.D. Tex. Jan. 9, 2015). Other, but not all, cases have turned out badly for bans on contributions during legislative sessions. 

Larry Lessig’s PAC has run into regulatory difficulties, apparently botching compliance with disclaimer requirements, and the Center for Competitive Politics decided to make an example of him by filing a complaint with the FEC. Example of what?  That those advocating for regulated politics should sample the fare they are urging on others and experience the same indigestion. In the Wall Street Journal, Scott Blackburn of the CCP has suggested that the moral of the tale was the need for more “sensible” campaign finance laws.

In policy and legal academic circles, political parties have come back into vogue. If a New Year's “in” list was constructed, the parties would have a fair chance of being included. In discussions of polarization, in particular, parties are increasingly thought to have something to offer to a solution or an improvement: stronger parties, better funded, would offer their leadership more control over their membership, and with that control might come the capacity to induce bi-partisan compromise and achieve better governance.