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1. I do not think this bill will help Republicans in the long run. It inflates our money advantage in the short run because we control the White House and Congress, and have more small donors. But it costs a lot of money to raise money in small amounts. The Republican cash-on-hand advantage is much less than the raw amounts raised would suggest. Meanwhile, the Democrats will benefit tremendously from the get out the vote efforts of unions and the issue broadsides from huge foundations such as Ford and Pew, which aren't covered. In other words, our monetary advantage may increase, but as raising money gets harder, overall it will help the Dems, who have more non-monetary advantages thanks to unions, foundations, and a national media that, despite Fox and all, is still basically left wing.

2. I have said a hundred times in this forum, it is extremely unlikely that the entire McCainFeingold bill will be thrown out by the Supreme Court. That is probably less likely than the possibility that the Court will uphold the entire thing. Wake up and smell the coffee! Since 1996, every single campaign finance decision from the Supreme Court has gone against freedom and in favor of regulation. The most likely result is that some parts will be struck down, but key provisions of the bill will stand.

3. I have no idea if Senator McConnell had some crafty ploy up his sleeve, but I do think that the bill that passed was not nearly as bad for Republicans as past bills, and McConnell probably knew that. There may be a time when, if you face overwhelming force, you surrender the battlefield when you can best make your escape to fight another day. Perhaps that is what happened here.

There is a flaw in your argument.

But it costs a lot of money to raise money in small amounts.

Conventionally yes, because you are talking about fund raising efforts. However, that impacts the other side with more severity, because we have a larger donor base in Place, which negates the Raising aspect. It is more like Collecting....