A 2023 Pew Research Center report on Americans’ views about the role of money in politics shows that more than 70% of US adults believe in campaign spending limits, with only 11 percent saying that spending should be unlimited. Yet the fight against the influence of moneyed interests on politics has been a losing battle ever since 1975, when the financial abuses unearthed during Watergate and the 1972 presidential campaign prompted Congress to set the first serious limits on contributions and establish the FEC as an independent agency.