Money in Politics and Political Conventions: Who Knew?

In the shadow of the Republican National Convention's corporate-sponsored convention, amidst dozens of privately-funded and well-lubricated glitzy private parties for delegates across the Twin Cities, Common Cause and the University of Minnesota Law School's Institute for Law and Politics held a conversation on "Money in Politics" on Tuesday, September 2. Common Cause President Bob Edgar was joined by Minnesota law professor and election expert Guy-Uriel Charles to dissect the big issue of how special interest money dominates today's political scene. Money in politics, they both agreed, is out of control. Bob pointed out that, no matter who gets elected this coming November, much of the debate and what gets addressed will be dictated by special interest money. Who gets to sit around the table that decides our big public issues like health care, energy policy, tax and fiscal policy, you name it, is decided in large part by the influence of special interest money. A representative democracy this ain't. And at the federal level, the Presidential system, once a great example of the promise of public financing, is now fully broken.

Free Speech and Youth Activism: Plenty of Exciting Energy at the RNC

What has been in the news over the last day or so has been the extremely tight police presence at the RNC, and the arrests of hundreds of protesters. Less in the news has been the peaceful and respectful protesting by tens of thousands of concerned Americans in sleepy St. Paul, including Monday's very large march from the Minnesota State Capitol to the RNC convention site. The marches have complicated getting around St. Paul, to say the least, and on Monday Common Cause President Bob Edgar and communications director Mary Boyle, on the way to meet with media near the convention, had to cool their heels for over an hour and enjoy the view of Americans from all walks of life peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights- and demanding political reform. Some photos of the colorful sight are posted.

There have also been rallies and concerts at the Minnesota State Capitol, which as you would expect drew thousands of young voters gathering to talk politics on dozens of issues (and eat and drink and dance). The University of Minnesota's Democracy Matters chapter has been there, with a table on how money in politics is so fundamental to the ability to get anything done today in American politics, and the opportunities to organize at college campuses around the country on this issue. Daryn Cambridge, Common Cause's brand new youth outreach director and recently of Democracy Matters, has been in St. Paul and received a firsthand experience of all this energy and idealism. There's no doubt today's youth are demanding reform and change, and want to get special interests out of politics. It will be very exciting to build on that energy in the weeks to come across college campuses. Some other photos of some of this activity at the RNC are posted here.

"Big Tent" Reception: Reform is Nonpartisan

On Tuesday night, Bob Edgar and Common Cause staff attended as guests of George and Sally Pillsbury the Republican "Big Tent" reception. This was a reception attended by hundreds of Republicans who want to make government work better, and want to work with Democrats to create bipartisan reform. Bob was invited because, as Sally Pillsbury put, "I knew John Gardner, and the values and traditions of Common Cause are more needed today than ever." This reception featured many nationally known speakers who frankly described how much of Republican leadership has become too partisan and too out of sync with voters, gravely jeopardizing their electoral chances this fall. These "Big Tent Republicans" are very interested in democratic and political reform and working with Common Cause, very much what John Gardner had in mind.

Some of the stories coming out of Minnesota this week are enough to make my stomach turn, especially after the appalling arrest of an ABC News producer in Denver last week as they attempted to videotape Senators and lobbyists emerging from a reception.

The biggest one this week is Democracy Now's Amy Goodman getting arrested--along with two of her colleagues--for obstruction and riot charges and then released.  Goodman and her team had been reporting on the 'preventive' raids of activists and independent journalists by police before the RNC started.  The video is an ugly scene.

September 1- Hurricane Gustav may have blown away the Republican National Convention's tightly constructed agenda, limiting opening day to all but the essentials, but Common Cause was still very much in St. Paul to bring our message of reform.

Today, we ran a full page ad on the "Recapture the Flag" campaign in the Minneapolis Star Tribune's special Republican National Convention section. Check it out here. The "Democracy in Distress" ad, with the upside down flag and demand for a return to constitutional principles and the rule of law, certainly was a bold complement to the Target ad with their awfully cute dog reminding everyone to register to vote. There's little doubt the ad made its nonpartisan and timely point to thousands of Republican delegates and curious Minnesotans.

Cross-posted from The Hill...

Common Cause will be very active this week and next at the Democratic convention in Denver and the Republican convention in Minneapolis. Today, along with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, I will kick off the Symposium on Media and Democracy at the "Big Tent." It will be a panel discussion on how the media and technology increasingly shape our democracy and how we can ensure more diverse and independent news sources.

The Big Tent is an 8,000 square-foot structure near the convention center that will be home this week to hundreds of bloggers and citizen journalists covering the convention. There are bloggers from small sites you've never heard of, as well as some of the most popular political blogs on the Web, like Daily Kos. You can watch a live feed of the Big Tent on our website at: www.commoncause.org/BigTent. We will also be sending back regular updates through the course of the week about what's happening, which you can find at www.commonblog.com.

Next week, in Minneapolis, I will speak on several panels with journalists, academics and activists about some of the most pressing issues our next president will face.

Check out this full-page ad that Common Cause is running Thursday in the Denver daily newspapers and then again in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Monday, when the Republicans start their convention in that city.

Have you ever wondered what exactly embattled, scandal-ridden politicians have to pay in legal fees?  The Washington Post has a partial list of legals fees for the first three months of 2007 alone:

RNC: $500,000 last month alone. No official statement, but it's known that the RNC is still paying bills concerning the New Hampshire phone-jamming scandal.

Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL): $4,800 paid and $5,149 unpaid legal bills. The FEC has cited his 2004 campaign for problematic contributions to the tune of $800,000.

Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL): $70,000 paid and $20,000 unpaid bills. Two words: Mark Foley.

Mark Foley himself: more than $200,000. And much more to come, I'm sure.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH): $52,533. Well, this is news to me. Boehner has a long-running lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) stemming from an illegally-recorded phone call.

DSCC: $50,466. They say this is their normal quarterly retainer for help complying with election laws.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): $75,000. His office says they don't know what these legal fees are for. Yeah, that sounds strange to me, too. If you know anything about this, fill us in in the comments.

Former Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT): $120,000 from his leftover campaign funds. No concrete details, but Burns has long and storied ties to Jack Abramoff.

Former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA): $132,025. The FBI is investigating contracts Weldon's daughter received while he was in office.

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA): $13,516 so far. And sure to skyrocket.