http://diigo.com/0d26n
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Election Law: "The Rise of 501(c)(4)s in campaign activity: Are they as clever as they think?"

• Perhaps in the short run but maybe not in the long run

http://diigo.com/0d269
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Spending on Campaign TV Ads Expected to Break Record - NYTimes.com

• Enough to set a record for political spending on TV ads this election cycle, which is on track to hit $3 billion by the November election, breaking the previous highs of roughly $2.7 billion in 2008 and $2.4 billion in 2006.

Will the Democratic Party's superdelegates vote the will of the people?

The role of the "superdelegate" in the presidential nomination process of the Democratic Party is under scrutiny, as the remaining two candidates-- Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama-- are in a tight race in this primary election season. Superdelegates are party public officials and party activists that individually vote for their nominee any time up to the party convention when the nominee is officially made.

FairVote's blog takes the position that the will of the people who vote in all of the primaries and caucuses that result in "delegates" should dictate the will of the party's "superdelegates". FairVote, along with other democracy-leaning organizations, have purchased an advertisement to appear this week in USA Today (it's in pdf format-- free Adobe Reader required).

Help Common Cause advertise on "Holt" secure election machine bill

Common Cause is asking for financial donations to help them on an advertising run. If you can help them put up a newspaper ad in all nine of a committee members' hometown newspapers concerning an elections-related bill, please help at the link below. Here is their full fundraising letter:

Dear __,

As a strong supporter of Common Cause, you know that when our country's most important issues are on the line, Common Cause is at work.

Help us place online newspaper ads to get the Holt bill moving. Donate today!

With elections in full swing and dozens of states left in the lurch, without secure voting machines, our democracy's basic values aren't merely "on the line" – they're in the line of fire. And, to make matters worse, the Holt bill, which would secure those voting machines, is locked up in Congress' Committee on House Administration.

Here's the good news: Common Cause already has big plans underway to keep the ball rolling on the Holt bill. With your support, we'll run ads on the Committee members' local newspapers' websites, urging them to bring the Holt bill to a vote, and to secure our elections once and for all.

Help Common Cause launch nine online newspaper ads with a donation today!

Unfortunately, right now we only have the resources to run the ad in one local newspaper – the hometown paper of Rep. Brady, the Chairman of the House Administration Committee. But, the fact is, in order to turn up the heat on Congress and get the Holt bill to a vote, we've got to run ads online in all nine of the Committee members' newspapers.

That's why your immediate support is critical. Only with your help can we launch all of the ads we need to keep up the pressure and ensure that Congress does not dilly dally in voting on this critical legislation.

Help Common Cause launch all nine online newspaper ads with a donation today!

It's plain to see that a wave of change is sweeping over our country. We cannot allow that wave of change to stop short simply because of voting machine errors that could have been prevented had Congress passed the Holt bill.

David, I hope it's as clear to you as it is to me: with this being a big change election year, if we want an election process we can trust – and I know you do – we must act together, and we must act now.

Thanks for all you do,

Bob Edgar
Common Cause