I’m always nervous about this issue, because for Democrats it’s a double-edged sword. On the one hand, 527s like MoveOn.com are probably Kerry’s only hope for keeping pace with Bush. (Which is probably why the Republicans are crying foul, despite the facts that (1) their candidate is outspending Kerry 2 to 1 and (2) Bush has benefited from conservative groups doing the same thing. When can we expect the FEC complaint filed by the GOP against Citizens United?) On the other hand, the GOP still has a fundraising advantage over the Democrats.

In any event, any attempt to level the playing field needs to address the primary imbalance that results whenever one party is the incumbent: the use of government resources to campaign. (For you non-Salon subscribers, an alternative version of the article appears here, although it’s worth noting that one of them is misspelling the reporter’s name, so there may be other differences…) Of course, this advantage appears to be available even to non-incumbents. So is there any way to separate governing from campaigning? If not, how do the Democrats respond? (Yeah, I know this sounds like a Plastic write-up…)