As the combatants see it, each side in its own way, the stand-off within the Federal Election Commission is a conflict over principle and the proper reading of the law. Commissioners affiliated with the Democratic Party say they seek reasonable but vigorous enforcement; the Republican-affiliated Commissioners say they apply only the law as it is, within constitutional limits, and not as the Democrats wish it to be. The disagreements run through a host of regulatory decisions; they affect the writing of advisory opinions, the outcome of enforcement decisions, and the decisions over whether to appeal adverse court judgments. Bad feeling seems to run high. But, as one might expect, no Commissioner would concede in the slightest that partisanship or power politics accounts for the way their positions are formulated or their votes are cast. And it is always difficult when there are differences over matters of substance to be certain of the play of politics beneath the surface. It might be suspected; it is often hard to prove.