and attorney robert kelner of the covington and burling law firm. he advises super pacs and large campaign donors. how much... i just said this has changed the landscape. looking at the numbers you've come peopled, john dunbar, has it? >> it certainly changed the landscape. it's changed the debate. it's changed the tone of the debate. if you look at the two big super pac controversies, the first is the negative attacks on gingrich in iowa. there's no question that that had an impact in iowa. whether it was increased coverage of gingrich's record or the super pac's, either way, it may have had an amplifying effect. reporters started covering what was claimed in the super pac ad. it also allowed romney to stay above the fray. the super pac did the dirty work. >> ifill: how different is this than last time or any other cycles we've seen in the past? >> i don't think it's really as different as many people have suggested, gwen, because we've always had outside groups raising large amounts of money from wealthy donors to buy advertising time. one differe