RNC Lawsuits Challenge Constitutionality of McCain-Feingold

November 13, 2008 2:18 PM

ABC News' Tahman Bradley and Arnab Datta Report: Less than two weeks after John McCain failed to keep the White House in Republican hands, the Republican National Committee filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., angered conservatives six years ago when he fought for the BCRA -- and ironically some of the very restrictions McCain helped put in place limited what the RNC was able to do on McCain's behalf during his White House run.

The move by Republicans, which comes just nine days after the election, indicates a concern among the GOP about party fundraising and its ability to influence state and local politics. One lawsuit, which the party says it filed today in the District of Columbia, seeks to overturn the ban on unregulated contributions or "soft money". The other lawsuit, filed today in Louisiana, seeks to eliminate restrictions on coordinated spending between candidates and the political parties' committees.

On a Thursday conference call with reporters, RNC Chairman Mike Duncan expressed concern that campaign finance law prohibits the GOP from raising money for Republican candidates running for statewide office in Virginia and New Jersey in 2009. He also noted that the RNC is unable to raise money for the state parties that would go to those Republican candidates.

"I believe this is an infringement on my constitutional rights and infringement on the rights of our party," Duncan said.

Duncan also took issue with the fact the RNC is limited to spending $84,000 in a coordinated fashion with candidates in state races. The RNC has setup independent expenditure units in many races across the country to try to help Republicans in local elections, but even that backdoor move has proven difficult, Duncan said.

"Money is put into (independent expenditures), but we have no control, and there are times when the message from the independent expenditure unit may be at odds with what the candidate wants to express at the time."

Republicans have long criticized the federal law, which is also known as "McCain-Feingold," saying it infringes on an individual's First Amendment rights by restricting the content and amount of political advertising.