Congress Mulls Web's Role in Politics

[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: David Rogers david.rogers@wsj.com]
As the Internet looms larger in American politics, Congress faces a fight over how to balance campaign-finance restrictions and the free speech rights of bloggers. Hoping to influence a Federal Election Commission rule-making this week, House leaders are promoting a bill to exclude the Internet from restrictions on public communications under campaign law. But critics say the real goal is to knock a hole in the 2002 ban against using unlimited "soft money" contributions from corporations and labor unions for political advertising. The conservative Redstate and liberal Daily Kos blogs have joined forces, saying the FEC must "tread lightly" for fear that new campaign reporting rules will chill free-spirited discourse online. With the number of Web sites multiplying rapidly, proponents argue that money can't dominate the market as it might with broadcasts for a single candidate or point of view. But opponents argue that online political advertising is a potential force, and a blanket exemption for paid content on blogs would invite abuse as well as efforts to unravel campaign-finance limits. Unlike many debates in Congress these days, this fight is about big ideas and one where both sides boast bipartisan support. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada last year introduced a bill similar to the current House measure; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R., Tenn.) wants to add the Internet measure to a pending lobbying-overhaul bill. But Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona says the measure is an end-run around the campaign-finance rules he helped to write four years ago. House Republicans admit they are so divided themselves that to advance their bill in the name of "free speech" they may have to run over the rights of opponents to offer a substitute.
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