View Point.(A)

By Harry V. Jaffa

No recent political subject has generated more heat and less light than that ofcampaign finance. John McCain seems determined to make it the hallmark of his political career, doggedly pursuing in the Senate what he failed to accomplish in last year's presidential primary.

But in doing so, the Arizona senator has placed himself at odds with the Constitution. The only public official who has consistently brought intelligence to

bear upon the question is Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has said, repeatedly and truly, that all of the efforts to outlaw "soft money" violate the Constitution.

The First Amendment prohibits "abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition thegovernment for redress of grievances." But these rights do not stand in isolation from each other. They form part of the process by which "We the people" choose those who are to hold office under our authority.

It is essential for the integrity of that process that those who hold office donot write laws telling the rest of us how to decide who next shall fill those offices. To the extent that a government bureaucracy decides the allocation of resources of political speech is the extent to which the electoral process is areflection of the opinions of the government bureaucracy, not of the people.

What about those infamous "special interests"? Do not those who invest in candidates and parties expect a return on their investments? Do not lobbyists spend untold millions shaping the laws in their own private interests? These questions are perfectly appropriate. What is amazing is that today no one seemsaware that they were the subject of the most profound consideration by those who framed and ratified the Constitution.