 The libertarian magazine "Reason" noted that virtually all reform advocates "agreed that he was the wrong person for the job".His nomination, however, received support from supporters of deregulation of campaign finance, such as the Cato Institute.As Commissioner and later Chairman of the FEC, Smith remained controversial, particularly in 2004, when as Chairman he bucked the Republican Party and refused to support new regulations of "527 groups," organizations, largely unregulated by campaign finance laws, that were generally believed to favor Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry.