Tweak McCain/ Feingold now

With Campaign 2006 over, all except for some absentee ballot counting and a lot of finger pointing, it isn't too soon to look at some changes that need to be made in the campaign process. This year's raucous and, at times, just downright mean campaign season, shows at least one area where changes need to be made.

There is much that is good in the McCain/Feingold Campaign Reform Legislation, passed in 2002, that impacts candidates for federal office, especially for Congress. McCain/Feingold removed some of the unregulated cash, known as “soft money,” from politics and made candidates more responsible for their advertisements with the stand by your ad provisions. But, as with many laws, there are unintended consequences, as seen with some of the $2.6 billion spent on political ads this year.

The most glaring consequence may have been the saturation of the airwaves with shameless distortions of a candidate's record. The high profile race that yesterday pitted Oneida County District Attorney Michael Arcuri against State Sen. Raymond Meier may have been the best example of things going awry.