Cite as: 533 U. S. 431 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
subject to coordinated spending limits upheld in Buckley,
supra, at 53, n. 59. A party, indeed, is now like some of
these political actors in yet another way: in its right under
Colorado I to spend money in support of a candidate without
legal limit so long as it spends independently. A party may
spend independently every cent it can raise wherever it
thinks its candidate 'will shine, on every subject and any
viewpoint.
A party is not, therefore, in a unique position. It is in the
same position as some individuals and PACs, as to whom
coordinated spending limits have already been held valid,
Buckley, supra, at 46-47; and, indeed, a party is better off,
for a party has the special privilege the others do not enjoy,
up to the limit of the
of making coordinated expenditures
16
Party Expenditure Provision.
5
The Party's arguments for being treated differently from
other political actors subject to limitation on political spending under the Act do not pan out. Despite decades of limitation on coordinated spending, parties have not been rendered
useless. In reality, parties continue to organize to elect candidates, and also function for the benefit of donors whose
object is to place candidates under obligation, a fact that parties cannot escape. Indeed, parties' capacity to concentrate
power to elect is the very capacity that apparently opens
them to exploitation as channels for circumventing contribution and coordinated spending limits binding on other political players. And some of these players could marshal the
same power and sophistication for the same electoral objectives as political parties themselves.
16This is the position of the FEC in the aftermath of Colorado I: that a
party committee may make coordinated expenditures up to the amount of
its expenditure limit, in addition to the amount of direct contributions
permitted by the generally applicable contribution limit. Brief for Petitioner 5-6, and n. 3.