Campaign spending “limits” are a joke, but nonetheless a terrible joke inflicted on the American public. At its root are 2 concepts: “money corrupts” and “money wins elections”. Ignore for a minute the fact that a lot of well-funded campaigns end up choosing the winner. If money won campaigns, Ross Perot would be President and Steve Forbes would be his VP.

There are corrupt people, and a lot of them are in politics. They all have money, but then, so do the uncorrupt ones. So how does money cause corruption? I seriously question the “influence peddling” aspect of donations. If, for instance, I want someone in office that supports the 2nd Amendment, I don’t give my money to Ted Kennedy. Why? Because I know Ted’s not going to vote for 2nd Amendment rights if I gave him a million. The money for the most part follows the candiate, not the other way around.

Money does NOT win elections. Our present Congress has a re-election rate of 98%, which is a better record than the Politboro in the USSR in the ’70s. The only possibility to unseat an incumbent is a very well-funded campaign where the issues are thoroughly examined. Making it impossible for any candidates to raise serious money from a few sources, our present system starves out whatever challengers there are out there, almost guaranteeing a win if the incumbent wishes to run again.

There is only one way to go that’s consistent with the Constitution. We must make public every donation, and we must have no limits on what an individual can give to the candidate of his/her choice. Such mechanisms could easily be put in place.

What I wish to give to any candidate is a form of speech. In that sense, the feds telling me how much I can give is a restriction of my 1st Amendent rights (and freedom of association, while we’re at it).

We spend 7 times more on potato chips in this country than we do on politics, I don’t think it’s corrupted anyone at Lay’s yet.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at August 16, 2003 06:56 PM

well said!

Posted by: alex at August 16, 2003 11:31 PM

Alex - How come nobody told me Ken Lay was runnin’? :o)

Posted by: Cap'n SPIN at August 16, 2003 11:50 PM

If I can afford it by the time the election draws closer I definitely want to send a candidate $2001 or $2000.01. It is illegal for me now to send a candidate this amount of money. Illegal! But, I definitely, badly, want to see this head to the Supreme Court. I am more than willing to see it happen if circumstances allow me.

Posted by: Jeff MacMillan at August 17, 2003 11:02 AM

This whole process forces candidates, both incumbent and challenger, to spend inordinate amounts of their time fund-raising. There is no time for debate or policy speeches - they’re too busy raising the cash they need.

Challengers rarely have the capital sufficient to challenge adequately. These laws effectively choke off outsiders, who have neither the party apparatus nor media publicity to mount effective campaigns. Is this really what we want? Was the intention to have a bunch of lobbyists and unions pick the next incumbent? Because that’s what we have now.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at August 17, 2003 02:46 PM

T-8

re your first paragraph(17 Aug, 2:46 pm)

That arrangement is a Godsend for the democrats, as the less time they have to debate and make campaign speeches, the easier it is to fill up the time they do have with their twenty second platforms. In twenty seconds, they can use 75% of their time to bash the President and 25% of the time(including the three second commercial) to give all their ideas for making America better and safer, including a Q & A period, still leaving one second to take a sip of water.

Posted by: Seth at August 18, 2003 10:28 PM

Seth, Over the last 40 years we have seen a substantial decline in actual debate immediately preceeding each new election. Modern politicians have learned not to cry like Ed Muskie, ride a tank like Dukakis or refer to anyone as “you people” like Perot. Each successive election has involved fewer and fewer truly human moments as candidates see who can hold their breath the longest.
As truly misguided attempts to achieve “fairness” (campaign finanace reform) place further restrictions on candidate advocacy we are moving closer and closer to the day when every election is preceded by giant posters of Charles Foster Kane vs. Boss Getties and little else.
My buddy thinks the TV stations need to “give” each candidate free air time, but as you can see in the California recall (137?) or even the Democratic primary (9), that’s not practical and it places an unfair burden on networks which will lose productive commercial air time. Rather, I’d like to see a small, 16-page format statement paper created by each candidate where they are FORCED to state their views on a series of topics picked by an independent council of taxpayers. The candidates are responsible for printing costs, so it can be on cheap newsprint, for all I care, but at least then we’d have some idea of WHAT WAS PROMISED.
People are not going after Grey Davis now because California has suddenly become some vast right-wing conspiracy - they’re going after him because he KNEW what state California was in (as a sitting governor) and he chose not to tell the voters the truth. A debt larger than the budgets of 48 of the 50 states. It’s that kind of betrayal that triggers recalls.
I’m just looking for a little light under the rock that establishment politicians seem determined to bury a little deeper each year. Without substantive debate, each election becomes a marketing campaign without a product to sell - and the idea is dupe an unsuspecting public (increasingly ignorant and apathetic toward a process that clearly holds no benefit for them) into voting for the slickest “product”. Yes, recalls are expensive and messy - but getting who you think you’re voting for - it’s PRICELESS.

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.”
- Pericles

Posted by: torpedo_eight at August 23, 2003 11:40 AM

WELL SAID!!!!

Posted by: Seth at August 23, 2003 09:15 PM

torpedo_eight

Here in SF, I still run into an awful lot of liberals who claim Davis is the “bee’s knees”and curse the recall. They are willing to overlook his every transgression simply because he’s a democrat and they’d rather sink into a vat of camel maneur with the surety that a democrat’s in office than run the risk of a Republican getting the governorship, even if the Republican might help pull the state out of the hole it’s in.

Still and all, while Arnold so far has my vote, I have yet to hear a single solution to California’s economic problems from any of the battalion of candidates.
Except the porn star, who says that she’ll tax breast implants and make lap dances tax deductible. :o)

And Gray Davis, whenever he appears on TV, renders an excellent impression of a cornered rat…

Posted by: Seth at August 23, 2003 09:26 PM

Seth, I have to hand it to you, living where you do with the views you hold, day-to-day life must oscillate between holding your tongue and the vituperous argument.

We are told Arnold is a total amateur when it comes to politics, true, he is. It takes real professionals to run up a $38,000,000,000. debt. (Let’s print it with all it’s glorious zeroes). And as far as that goes, how does being the President’s wife prepare anyone for the Senate?

Apparently it’s alright to be a complete amateur if Martin Sheen thinks your head’s in the right place.

You know and I know when Davis says the recall is an ‘insult’ to California voters, he really means himself. The king doesn’t want to hear about the suffering of the serfs - just tell him when you’re dead. Grey is a pompous, self-serving, self-righteous prick - and it’s hard to hide that type of personality from 39 million voters. Watch for a few minutes and it virtually oozes from his pores.

He may be the bee’s knees for the ‘vote for the devil, as long as he’s a democrat’ democrat, such as you have in SF, but I don’t think that’s the reasoning ALL democrats are following in CA. How else could the guy get a 22% favorable rating in a heavily democratic state?

Even considering the possibility he survives this recall, the rest of his term should all the entertainment value of a slow moving train wreck. When you’re governor, you’re responsible. It’s time to stop blaming energy companies, other states, right wing conspiracies, voters having temper tantrums, republicans, the weather and Washington. Real men step up and take the heat.

Which is why Davis never will.

Posted by: torpedo_eight at August 23, 2003 10:23 PM

******Dean committed to accepting taxpayer money and vowed to attack any Democrat who didn’t.******

Uhhhhhhh……..Isn’t that what democrats do?

accepting = taking

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