That is clearly her call as Attorney General, and Congress could certainly clarify itself on the issue. However, that would reopen debate on the issue of whether soft money should be banned, and that is something neither party wants. Political action committees clearly play a major role in financing federal elections. However, to what degree do they impact statwide races, big city mayorality races and other imortant non-federal races. PACs are clearly a force at the federal level, but their influence has been largely overstated.
Challengers get next to nothing.
Open seat candidates tend to fall somewhere in between depending upon the race and the candidates' chance of winning. Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to calculate the impact of PACs at the state and local level. Florida is one of the few states that does. That is gradually changing, and with luck, we may have a chance to do meaningful analysis within a few years. Unfortunately, that is the sorry state of campaign finance in general.