Early Conclusions About That Reform Bill.

When the Supreme Court upheld the new Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in December 2003, election lawyer and former FEC Commissioner Trevor Potter bemoaned the "pervasive cynicism" that greeted the ruling. Political parties are having collecting "hard" money that is subject to contribution limits, now that soft money has been banned. The federal party committees raised a bit over $300 million in 2003, a sizable chunk more than the $267 million collected in both hard and soft money combined in 1999, the year before the previous presidential election. At the same time, predictions of a "shadow" Democratic Party that will dump $300 million or more into voter registration, ads and get-out-the-vote activities remain just that--predictions.