[civilian]

So, what makes newspaper exempt from this? They can publish opinion pieces on who to support, and they are spending a lot of money in producing newspaper. Surely that _should_ violate McCain-Feingold? Except it didn't, because there was a special exemption for media. What makes that fair?

Let's say I'm an individual, and I support Santa Claus for president. But I'm also a famous personality, and I spend a million dollars to put on a free speaking tour where I support Santa Claus for president. Aren't I using money to support my speech? I'm not just using my mouth, I'm using my money to pursue my first amendment rights.

[thephyber]

It's never been illegal in the US to support an issue to the fullest extent of your financial capabilities. You can make statements into a public forum with your every last dollar.

It had been, for decades, illegal for one person to support one specific candidate/campaign. It was never quite enforced such that it made a huge difference (shell companies, PACs, etc make it easy to skirt rules and funnel campaign support) and candidates get progressively better at asking for "support" without actually making the tit-for-tat which moves it from the "lobbying" arena to "bribery".

Also, IIRC that ruling established the precedent needed for SuperPACs and moved the individual contribution threshold.