The Supreme Court's decision in the Citizens United v. FEC case was assumed to be an unalloyed victory for the forces of the far right, who would overwhelm progressives with campaign and voter suppression spending by shadowy corporate- and plutocrat-funded groups =cough=Koch brothers= cough=. Well, it seems for now anyway that all that money sloshing around may end up swamping some high-profile Republican boats:
The jabs at Mitch McConnell have been coming on the air and in the mail, accusing the Senate Republican leader of helping President Obama and letting down Kentucky voters.
The attacks are not the work of McConnell’s conservative primary challenger. Instead, they are coming from independent groups that want to unseat him and are benefitting from a new system of unlimited contributions ushered in by the Supreme Court in its 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling.
Conservatives cheered that decision, described at the time by McConnell as a “First Amendment triumph.” But, as McConnell’s experience now illustrates, the loosened rules are causing political headaches for the GOP — allowing tea party groups to bring more financial firepower to challenges against Republican incumbents. (our emphasis)Can we get an "amen," or at least a "hee-haw!"
This is about the only (unintended) consequence of the Citizens United ruling that progressives can cheer about. Every dollar spent by the likes of the Club for Growth or Americans for
