Chapter 11
Historical Perspective: After the Civil War, presidential campaigns for nearly 50 years were funded almost entirely by wealthy individuals and corporations. Reforms in the early 1900s prohibited direct contributions by corporations, but as recently as the election of 1968, the most effective way to win a presidential election was to find relatively few very wealthy individuals and get them to give you lots of money. Corporations and organizations had relatively few options for direct participation.
The Federal Elections and Campaigns Act (FECA) placed limits on individual contributions, but opened the door once more to corporate and group contributions through the creation of Political Action Committees (PACs). PACs can make direct contributions to candidates but must also conform to the reporting requirements of FECA.
In 2004 and 2008, a new breed of political organization emerged that would profoundly alter the way organizations influence the political process – the 527. Check out the following links to understand the history of campaign finance reform and examples from some of the most influential 527 groups in 2004.
http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/index.php
http://projects.publicintegrity.org/527/default.aspx?act=faq
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phqOuEhg9yE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9WKimKIyUQ
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=3860034&m=3860035
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/new-pro-clinton.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35376-2004Aug26.html
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/30/obama-campaign-files-fec-complaint-against-pro-clinton-group/