The Federal Election Commission has shown in a decision on Tuesday that it favors protecting incumbents over free speech.

From Yahoo News:

Federal election regulators refused to ease limits on political advertising Tuesday, blocking an effort to let interest groups run radio and television ads mentioning elected officials within weeks of an election.

The Federal Election Commission voted 3-3 on a proposal that would have allowed such ads as long as they addressed public policy issues and did not promote, support, oppose or attack a sitting member of Congress. Supporters of the change said they wanted to strike a balance between campaign ad restrictions and constitutional free speech guarantees.

A wide array of interest groups are pushing for a change in the limits on political advertising (via Yahoo News):

Advocates of the change covered the political spectrum, from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to labor unions to the ACLU to a number of smaller nonprofit advocacy groups. They said the law not only restricted campaign advertising but also prohibited interest groups from voicing their views on legislation before Congress.