October 15, 2010 11:33AM # Free Speech Means More Equal Speech By [John Samples](https://www.cato.org/people/john-samples) --- SHARE You might have gotten the impression that spending by outside groups in the current election cycle will fund a “giant bullhorn” for Republican candidates in the current election cycle while Democrats and liberals will have to whisper. Yet the [*Rothenberg Political Report*](http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.com/news/article/outside-cash-will-keep-gop-flush-in-final-weeks) finds: > Throughout the election cycle, the National Republican Congressional Committee trailed the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in available money by at least a 2‑to‑1 ratio. A[ detailed story](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703631704575552462557955610.html) in the *Wall Street Journal* summarizes “the Democratic Party and candidates had raised a total of $1.25 billion so far for the election. The comparable GOP figure is $1.1 billion.” The Democrats enjoy, in other words, a $150 million dollar advantage, if we look only at party fundraising. Now consider the outside groups: > In total, outside conservative groups—such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Action Network and American Crossroads—could spend more than $300 million on TV advertisements, campaign mailings and other efforts to elect Republicans to Congress this year. Outside Democratic groups, by contrast, plan to spend about $100 million on those activities. But don’t forget the labor unions: > The largest labor unions say they will spend $200 million combined, but most of their focus will be on rallying union voters. I conclude that the outside GOP groups will raise almost exactly as much as outside Democratic groups and the labor unions combined. The Democratic Party, however, will still enjoy a significant fundraising advantage over the Republican Party. The Republican outside groups thus tend to level what would have been, absent their activities, a very unequal playing field in 2010. I am not certain whether this closing of what would have been a huge Democratic fundraising advantage has anything to do with all of the complaints about “secret groups undermining democracy.” What do you think? ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).