On November 13, President Obama formally announced that Bob Bauer will be the new counsel to the office of the President. Bauer is an expert on election law, especially campaign finance law, and has had a blog, www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com. He has represented the Democratic National Committee in lawsuits involving campaign finance. He has been a force in favor of freeing political parties from campaign finance restrictions, especially the parts of the McCain-Feingold law that make restrict the ability of national political parties to receive large donations and also restrict the ability of national political parties to spend money and to coordinate with state units of that same party.