mr. burchfield. >> mr. chief justice, may it please the court -- senator mcconnell agrees that this aggregate limit does not pass exacting scrutiny. senator mcconnell believes that all restrictions of this nature should be reviewed under strict scrutiny. to begin with, this is a severe restriction on political speech. >> mr. burchfield, i'd like you to address this question about the restriction on speech. it has been argued that these limits promote expression, promote democratic participation, because what they require the candidate to do is, instead of concentrating fundraising on the super-affluent, the candidate would then have to try to raise money more broadly in the electorate. so that by having these limits you are promoting democratic participation, then the little people will count some, and you won't have the super-affluent as the speakers that will control the elections. >> your honor, i disagree with that, for this reason. first of all, this limit, the aggregate limit on political parties, pla

mr. burchfield. >> mr. chief justice, may it please the court -- senator mcconnell agrees that this aggregate limit does not pass exacting scrutiny. senator mcconnell believes that all restrictions of this nature should be reviewed under strict scrutiny. to begin with, this is a severe restriction on political speech. >> mr. burchfield, i'd like you to address this question about the restriction on speech. it has been argued that these limits promote expression, promote democratic participation, because what they require the candidate to do is, instead of concentrating fundraising on the super-affluent, the candidate would then have to try to raise money more broadly in the electorate. so that by having these limits you are promoting democratic participation, then the little people will count some, and you won't have the super-affluent as the speakers that will control the elections. >> your honor, i disagree with that, for this reason. first of all, this limit, the aggregate limit on political parties, pla