Cite as: 533 U. S. 431 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
electing particular candidates. The money parties spend comes from contributors with their own personal interests. PACs, for example, are frequent party contributors who (according to one of the Party's own experts) "do not pursue the same objectives in electoral politics" that parties do. App. 180 (statement of Professor Anthony Corrado). PACs "are most concerned with advancing their narrow inter-est[s]" and therefore "provide support to candidates who share their views, regardless of party affiliation." Ibid. In fact, many PACs naturally express their narrow interests by contributing to both parties during the same electoral cycle,12 and sometimes even directly to two competing candidates in the same election, L. Sabato, PAC Power, Inside the World of Political Action Committees 88 (1984).13 Parties
12 As former Senator Paul Simon explained, "I believe people contribute to party committees on both sides of the aisle for the same reason that Federal Express does, because they want favors. There is an expectation that giving to party committees helps you legislatively." Id., at 270. See also id., at 269-270 (recounting debate over a bill favored by Federal Express during which a colleague exclaimed "we've got to pay attention to who is buttering our bread").
The FEC's public records confirm that Federal Express's PAC (along with many others) contributed to both major parties in recent elections. See, e. g., FEC Disclosure Report, Search Results for Federal Express Political Action Committee (June 20, 2001), http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/ cgi-bin/com supopp/C00068692; FEC Disclosure Report, Search Results for Association of Trial Lawyers of America Political Action Committee (June 20, 2001), http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/com supopp/C00024521; FEC Disclosure Report, Search Results for Philip Morris Companies, Inc., Political Action Committee (June 20, 2001), http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/ cgi-bin/com supopp/C00089136; FEC Disclosure Report, Search Results for American Medical Association Political Action Committee (June 20, 2001), http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/com supopp/C00000422; FEC Disclosure Report, Search Results for Letter Carriers Political Action Fund (June 20, 2001), http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/com supopp/ C00023580.
13 For example, the PACs associated with AOL Time Warner Inc. and Philip Morris Companies, Inc., both made contributions to the competing 2000 Senate campaigns of George Allen and Charles Robb. See
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