In case y’all hadn’t noticed, we’re now within 60 days of the election, which means that in theory, 527 groups are now prohibited from running television and radio ads:

Restrictions on “Phony Issue Ads” Run by Corporations and Unions (The Snowe-Jeffords Amendment). First adopted as part of McCain-Feingold during the Senate’s February 1998 campaign finance debate, the Snowe-Jeffords amendment addresses the explosion of thinly-veiled campaign advertising funded by corporate and union treasuries. These ads skirt federal election law by avoiding the use of direct entreaties to “vote for” or “vote against” a particular candidate. Under the bill, labor unions and corporations would be prohibited from spending their treasury funds on “electioneering communications.” “Electioneering communications” are defined as radio or TV ads that refer to a clearly identified candidate or candidates and appear within 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. This definition does not include any printed communication, direct mail, voter guides, or the Internet. It would also not cover issue advertising that does not identify a specific candidate or appears outside of the 30/60 day pre-election window.

The Snowe-Jeffords amendment applies to 501©(4) non-profit corporations and incorporated 527 organizations…

Update 9/6: Note that this restriction doesn’t apply to all 527’s, only those that are incorporated or take corporate/union money. If anyone knows a definitive source to identify which 527’s fall into this category and which don’t, please chime in.

So the question becomes: what the hell are the 527’s going to do with any money that they’ve amassed but haven’t spent yet?

One interesting theory is that 527’s may channel advertising dollars online. And hey, I’m all for that. Bring that dirty, filthy campaign lucre right on!

But does anybody have any money left anyway? Easy enough to check, thanks to the invaluable OpenSecrets.org. I pulled down the expenditures and receipts for the top 50 527’s, added columns to show the percentage of their funds that has been spent and their funds remaining, and put it back in a chart again:

So there’s a few interesting observations to be had from this data. First, it’s clear that —- assuming the reporting data is up-to-date —- there’s still decent piles of cash lying in the coffers of some of the major 527’s, including the Democrats’ mega-fund, the Joint Victory Fund, as well as others.

But then there’s the bottom end of the table, which is somewhat odd. Many 527’s have actually spent more than they are reporting as receipts. I would think that there are two explanations for this: first, that the group is in fact spending ahead of donations on credit or debt, or second, that the reporting is simply behind on receipts while it is up-to-date on spending. This makes a certain kind of sense; I presume it is a much less burdensome process to list expenditures than it is to report on all the tiny donations received.

But some of the numbers are wildly out of wack, including those for everyone’s favorite, MoveOn.org. They’ve spent $17M with receipts of only $9M, apparently —- a gap of $8 million. Now that is some fairly shoddy reporting, if you ask me.

But back to the funds that are left. At his current rates, $4,000 will get you an add that runs from here until Election Day over at Instapundit —- and you can even get the top slot for a mere $6,000. Glenn’s current traffic suggests that it’s a safe bet that he’ll get around 10 million visits between now and election day, so his rates are a bargain if there ever was one.

Further down the traffic, over at TTLB, you can run an ad until the end of the campaign for $70. Yes, $70. I mean, that’s less than the price of a power lunch. And while I can’t guarantee Glenn’s mega-visitage, my own traffic hasn’t been too shabby lately (especially in Great Britain, though they don’t vote, I’m told). And somewhere inbetween, here at The Command Post, you can run an add site-wide until Election Day for $300. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

Other blogs are priced similarly, generally with a pretty direct relation between traffic and cost. So it sure seems logical to expect that there might be a flood of political dollars headed our way sometime soon. So to use language that I know both Republicans and Democrats now understand:

Bring. It. On!

PS: Bonus 60-day tidbit: Another odd part of campaign finance regulations is that, believe it or not, Senators are prohibited from updating their own websites within 60 days of an election. Here’s the relevant rule:

During the 60 day period immediately preceding the date of any primary or general election (whether regular, special, or runoff) for any national, state, or local office in which the Senator is a candidate, no Member may place, update or transmit information using a Senate Internet Server (“FTP Server, Gopher, and World Wide Web), unless the candidacy of the Senator in such election is uncontested. Exceptions to this moratorium include the following: posting of press releases, posting of official statements of the member appearing in the Congressional Record, and technical corrections to the website.

Kind of odd, really, but if you can post press releases, I can’t see how it is very much of a restriction.

Originally posted at The Truth Laid Bear