A portion of the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform act may be imperiled; the Supreme Court is set to rule soon on whether the provision forbidding "issue ads" within a certain date of an election will be overturned.

A central point in the debate is whether such ads are purely issue oriented, or whether they are designed to elect or defeat a particular candidate and should therefore be subject to stricter disclosure laws and restricted during the frenzied ad period around election day.

The ruling on this provision of McCain-Feingold could signal a broader reconsideration of the law by the Court, which is made up of more conservative appointees than when it first ruled on the provisions of the bill.