154
Opinion of the Court
candidates and officeholders that has given rise to the appearance of undue influence. Implicit (and, as the record shows, sometimes explicit) in the sale of access is the suggestion that money buys influence. It is no surprise then that purchasers of such access unabashedly admit that they are seeking to purchase just such influence. It was not unwar-ranted for Congress to conclude that the selling of access gives rise to the appearance of corruption.
In sum, there is substantial evidence to support Congress' determination that large soft-money contributions to national political parties give rise to corruption and the appearance of corruption.
2. New FECA § 323(a)'s Restriction on Spending and Receiving Soft Money
Plaintiffs and The Chief Justice contend that § 323(a) is impermissibly overbroad because it subjects all funds raised and spent by national parties to FECA's hard-money source and amount limits, including, for example, funds spent on purely state and local elections in which no federal office is at stake.50 Post, at 353-354 (Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting). Such activities, The Chief Justice asserts, pose "little or no potential to corrupt . . . federal candidates and officeholders." Post, at 353 (dissenting opinion). This observation is beside the point. Section 323(a), like the remainder of § 323, regulates contributions, not activities. As the record demonstrates, it is the close relationship between federal office-holders and the national parties, as well as the means by which parties have traded on that relationship, that have
50 In support of this claim, the political party plaintiffs assert that, in 2001, the RNC spent $15.6 million of nonfederal funds (30% of the nonfederal amount raised that year) on purely state and local election activity, including contributions to state and local candidates, transfers to state parties, and direct spending. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 102-103 (statement of counsel Bobby R. Burchfield); 251 F. Supp. 2d, at 336-337 (Henderson, J.); id., at 464-465 (Kollar-Kotelly, J.); id., at 830 (Leon, J.).
Page: Index Previous 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007