470
REPUBLICAN FEDERAL CAMPAIGN COMM. Thomas, J., dissenting
Brief for Respondent in Colorado I, O. T. 1995, No. 95-489, p. 27 (contending that Congress had made an "empirical judgment that party officials will as a matter of course consult with the party's candidates before funding communications intended to influence the outcome of a federal election"); see also FEC Advisory Opinion 1985-14, CCH Fed. Election Camp. Fin. Guide ¶ 5819, p. 11,186, n. 4 (1985) ("Party political committees are incapable of making independent expenditures").
As the District Court explained, to break this link between the party and its candidates would impose "additional costs and burdens to promote the party message." 41 F. Supp. 2d 1197, 1210 (Colo. 1999). This observation finds full support in the record. See, e. g., App. 218 (statement of Anthony Corrado, Associate Professor of Government, Colby College) (explaining that, to ensure that expenditures were independent, party organizations had to establish legally separate entities, which in turn had to "rent and furnish an office, hire staff, and pay other administrative costs," as well as "engage additional consulting services" and "duplicate many of the functions already being undertaken by other party offices"); id., at 52 (statement by Federal Election Commission admitting that national party established separate entities that made independent expenditures); id., at 217 (statement of Anthony Corrado) (explaining that reliance on independent expenditures would increase fundraising demands on party organizations because independent expenditures are less effective means of communication); id., at 219 ("[I]ndependent expenditures do not qualify for the lowest unit rates on the purchase of broadcasting time"); App. in No. 99-1211 (CA10), p. 512 (report of Frank J. Sorauf, professor at University of Minnesota, and Jonathan S. Krasno, professor at Princeton University) (noting inefficiency of independent expenditures). Establishing and maintaining independence also tends to create voter confusion and to undermine the candidate that the party sought to support. App. 220 (statement of Anthony Corrado); App. in No. 99-1211 (CA10), at 623-624
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