Michael Schrimpf of The Center for Competitive Politics addresses attempts by some to have the Government Accountability Board in Wisconsin stifle free speech under the guise of campaign finance reform. He closes with what should be common sense to everybody:
Candidates and officeholders may find issue advocacy close to an election annoying, unsavory, or even detrimental to their electoral odds. But elections belong to the citizens, not the politicians. If a group of citizens wants to insert their concerns about an issue in the midst of a campaign, they should have that right.
In fact, the ability of citizens groups to produce advertisements educating their fellow citizens about an officeholder's position on an issue, and urging them to contact the officeholder about that position, is fundamental to American democracy.
