While the images from Fort Campbell are framed as simple patriotism, the legal fight swirling around JD Vance’s name is about who gets to own politics itself. At issue is whether limits on coordination between parties and candidates are a safeguard against corruption or an unconstitutional gag on political speech. If those caps fall, parties could pour virtually unlimited, tightly directed money into their nominees’ efforts, blurring the difference between campaigns and the cash that fuels them.

Defenders of the existing rules see them as one of the last defenses against oligarchic capture in a system already warped by super PACs and dark money after Citizens United. The Court’s decision will not just tweak regulations; it will reset the architecture of power, deciding whether elections remain contested events or become carefully financed performances controlled by those who can most afford the script.