A small ray of light shines down on Erickson

The increasingly futile effort of Republican businessman Mike Erickson to take the reigns of the fifth congressional district may have taken a slight turn in his favor given the recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down the "millionaire's amendment."  The amendment allowed opponents of wealthy self-funded candidates to increase federal fundraising limits once the alleged millionaire spent $350,000 out of his own pocket.

The small ray of sunshine beaming down on Erickson's campaign will allow his likely continuous and prolonged television endeavor to begin much earlier without giving his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Kurt Schrader, any time to capitalize.  Erickson previously held onto his stash until later in the game before inundating Oregon voters with his redundant glossy ads, leaving opposition little time to take advantage of the expanded limits.  Now, Erickson can go on the air as soon as the ruling takes effect without any concern of Schrader bringing in more dollars from wealthy donors. 

Why is this good news for Erickson?  Not necessarily because it limits Schrader's fundraising capabilities in the general election, but because he will need to go beyond his usual $1.5 million personal expenditure to make any sort of attempt at recovering his reputation with GOP voters in the fifth.  He will need more time and money to explain to constituents why he can still be a credible candidate after Erickson's former girlfriend Tawnya went public with a story proclaiming he encouraged her to abort his conceived child and then later ran as a "pro-life" candidate for Congress. 

Erickson, being the stubborn and vain candidate we have all come to know, will probably refuse to bow out of the race to save his party's chances of winning the seat and use this ruling to try and revive what little of a political career he has left.