What do the ACLU, right-to-lifers, the LP and the Christian Coalition have in common? Not much, except they hate each other’s guts and all have this odd affection for being able to speak their point of view.

Which is why they’ve joined forces with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-La.) to fight the campaign speech — er, finance — reform bill signed into law by Dubya. They’re all co-plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality.

McConnell, who has blocked speech control for years, was finally defeated this year as Dubya hoped to hush Democrat bleatings about the Enron controversy by passing the law. McConnell said that when it comes to free speech, ”There is no ideological divide. There is only one interest: freedom.”

Here is the complete text of the suit McConnel & Co. have filed. Most likely to fail constitutional muster is the provision which bans independent expenditure by political pressure groups in the final 60 days of a campaign. If there were ever a more blatant attempt to protect incumbents than this bill, it would be hard to pinpoint.