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December 05, 2005
Clean Elections come from Clean Money
Thinking about running for a state office? According to the campaign data from the 1998 Calif. election, it's going to cost you about $471,000 to run for a legislative seat.
Not many of us can afford even a fraction of that cost. So the field of candidates is definately tilted towards the rich and the list of potential candidates is narrowed considerably, that's not good for the voter. Raising money to run isn't too bad as a rule, unless you have to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, then a candidate suddenly finds himself beholding to certain interests and thats not good for voters either!
The orignal concept of government by the people, for people, has devolved into something else. It's become a system where money talks! Actually, it buys elections. The FPPC says candidates who spent the most, won over 92% of the time. That's precisely why we see so many political ads run by slick advertising professionals; it's become a whole new industry designed to elect candidates to high office by manipulating the voter.
For the ad pro's it's just another product they are hired to sell. Thanks to these spinmasters who paint up their candidates, the average voter can't be sure what they see is what they will get...need I mention all those broken campaign promises?
It's often said almost anyone can get elected to anything, given enough money. However, there are a number of creative ways we can change the system to restore confidence in our elected officials. One method is called, "The Clean Money, Clean Elections." It's purely voluntary. If a candidate wishes to take part, they can retain their independance because they don't have to raise big money to run for the state legislature. They still have to qualify for the ballot by a signature campaign and only then are they entitled to a share of money from the clean election campaign fund. Additionally, "...to cover minor costs during the qualifying period, candidates are permitted to raise a limited amount of seed money from private sources in amounts not exceeding $100 per contributor."
Sound interesting? For more information on this topic may I suggest....
http://www.publicampaign.org/congress/howitworks.htm
Posted by Post Scripts at December 5, 2005 02:57 PM