Ruling to affect Iowa caucus campaigns

The impact of Wednesday's U.S. Supreme Court decision, upholding campaign finance and political advertising restrictions, is likely to be felt during the presidential nominating process, which begins in Iowa on Jan. 19.

"It'll have some impact on activities by outside interest groups that want to influence the caucus or the primary, in that it will restrict their ability to spend soft money on ads that promote a particular candidate," said Don Simon, counsel to Common Cause, a longtime advocate of election reforms.

Looking ahead to the general election, "it'll force the parties to spend hard dollars for their get-out-the-vote and voter registration activities," Simon said.

The court upheld restrictions on "issue" ad spending by independent advocacy groups leading up to an election. In the month before a primary and within two months of a general election, special interest groups cannot use corporate or union money for ads targeting candidates.

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