A candidate who's running against the special interests and their big money that he says control state government is now to benefit from a court ruling that will give him access to ... big money. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the Republican nominee against Democratic Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, now has the support of a quickly formed political action committee of the Republican Governors Association, which has solicited big contributions from many out-of-state GOP loyalists.

The group, thanks to a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that tossed out North Carolina's $4,000-per-election limit on individual contributions to such committees, can run ads supporting McCrory so long as those ads are not coordinated with the McCrory campaign.

This is a quirk in election law that means independent groups can buy advertising that boosts one candidate and criticizes another, free of ceilings that are supposed to stem the ability of wealthy individuals to bring their limitless greenbacks to bear on races far from their homes. It mocks all the hot wind that's blown across the political landscape in recent years about campaign finance reform.

Said Bob Hall, executive director of the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, "This opens up one more way that big money can influence elections. The higher courts are taking the view that elections can be like an auction and that money should flow in all kinds of ways."

Perdue's campaign isn't about to swear off such money -- corporations and unions can't be among the contributors to such committees, by the way -- so this is not a Republican or McCrory phenomenon alone. If anything, the Republican governors' group will ramp up the money race on both sides by prompting other groups to do the same.

No matter which side is benefiting, it's not healthy for outside interest groups, whether economic or ideological, to buy the power to influence voters by using this chink in campaign finance laws. Come on now -- the groups can do whatever they want as long as they don't work with the campaign in which they're interested -- and that's somehow supposed to protect the public interest?

Ridiculous. Lawmakers at the federal level need to find an approach that will stand up in court, and stand up for the public's voice. With donations in the tens of thousands from individuals in the North Carolina governor's race alone, that voice is growing more faint.

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