s commitments to the national parties diminished as well. As stated by Jeffrey H. Birnbuam, "there arose a clan of campaign specialists for hire", as if to take the place of the parties. These new specialists had moved past the parties as the masters of the new era of campaigning in less than a generation. With the political parties taking a much quieter role in campaigning, the candidates became the focus of attention. The candidates did, however, use the party specialists in the same, but somewhat more sophisticated, ways as they did the parties. With this change the old campaigning economy of gifts and bartering became an economy centered on cash flow. A lot of cash became necessary to rent media time and the new campaign specialists. The burden of raising the much needed cash fell to the candidates, and along with the change of financial responsibility, the fat cats became as important for the candidates as they were for the parties. Due to the candidate-centered politics, finance became much more campaign-specific, and hence, much more expensive. Throughout these changes in campaigns before the Nixon era, there was also much talk of reform.
             Congress took its first step to reform in 1907, in reaction to growth in political power and new corporate wealth. It outlawed contributions to congressional and presidential candidates by banks or corporations. The ban on corporate contribution still stands today. Other reforms by congress were less enduring, including a disclosure law in 1911 and enacting limits on House and Senate candidate spending the same year. In 1925, it passed legislation to reinforce reporting requirements and raise spending limits. Continued legislation in 1940 added contribution limits to the regulation for th
             ...