• by Wayne Friedman , January 2, 2007

Politics is lucrative--at least for mass media. TV and radio stations benefited from a record amount of political spots in 2006--nearly $2 billion in total political advertising. Those numbers might go up again soon.

A D.C. Court of Appeals has ruled that current regulations preventing companies and other groups from buying so-called "advocacy" ads for candidates within 60 days of an election should not necessarily apply.

Right now, such advocacy commercials are not allowed to air within 60 days of an election or 30 days before a primary--either for a specific candidate or an issue. The court has now refined its ruling, saying these rules should not apply to ads for candidates--only issue-advocacy ads.

Opponents of the ruling say the ruling is confusing.

Some commercials are not really advocacy ads for candidates; they mention the candidate in passing. The larger goal is getting an issue--say, the environment or abortion laws, approved or rejected. So in effect, those ads should still be restricted.

Losers in this decision were Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the Federal Election Commission. The Campaign Legal Center, which represented McCain and others, will probably appeal the decision, which will go directly to the Supreme Court.