"Throughout the 2004 senatorial campaign, WRTL made no secret of its views about who should win the election and explicitly tied its position to the filibuster issue. ... 'Re-elect George W. Bush' and 'Send Feingold Packing'... It was under these circumstances that WRTL ran the three television and radio ads in question. ...corporations earmarked more than $50,000 specifically to pay for the ads... Each {ad} criticized an unnamed 'group of senators' for 'using the filibuster delay tactic to block federal judicial nominess from a simple 'yes' or 'no' vote,' and described the Senator's actions as 'politics at work, causing gridlock and backing up some of our courts to a state of emergency.' ....In sum, any Wisconsin voter who paid attention would have known that Democratic Senator Feingold supported Filibusters against Republican presidential judicial nominees, that the propriety of the filibusters was a major issue in the senatorial campaign, and that WTRL along with the Senator's Republican challengers opposed his reelection because of his position on filibuster."
Justice Souter, joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer, arguing in dissent in FEC v. Wisconsin Right To Life (John McCain et al. v. WRTL) that Americans should be kept in the dark prior to elections.
I have not yet read the complete decision. I will download, read it, and have more to say later.
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