by Bob Schiff

About the author: Bob Schiff is a staff attorney at the Congress Watch division of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization.

Campaign-finance scandals dominate the headlines. Public sentiment for reform is at its highest level since the Watergate era. Yet it seems like the opposition to reform in 1997 was bolder, and the odds are getting longer. Even the McCain-Feingold bill, which many reformers characterize as only a weak first step, faces heated and determined opposition. [The McCain-Feingold bill was defeated in March 1998.] Free marketeers aligned with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Christian Right denounce attempts to reform the loophole-ridden, corruption-breeding system we now live with as attacks on the sacred right of free speech.

It is no longer laughable in Congress to talk about getting rid of all limits on...