Common Cause Blog

Hi, Ken Salazar

Day Two at the Big Tent started sleepily, but the place is hopping now. Sen. Ken Salazar stopped by and did a long round through the place -- including a short hello with Bob Edgar (see the pic).

I caught Salazar on his way out (no picture) and introduced myself.

Before I could get out my question, "Will you support public financing for Congress?" Salazar cut me off: "Common Cause! Campaign finance reform. I want to do something about campaign finance reform," he said. A little surprised, I thanked him, said we're working on public financing, and handed him a flyer about the Fair Elections Now Act. Getting a moderate Senator like Salazar on board would be terrific for our prospects to pass the bill next Congress.

Competitive Connecticut

One of the hopes of the Citizens Election Program is that more people will participate - more candidates, greater diversity, fewer unopposed races, more citizens getting involved in the process. Another hope is that the races will be competitive. Connecticut's primaries are over, and we can get a glimpse of how public financing is working. Connecticut is the land of steady habits. In our case, steady habits have meant that over the past several decades, incumbents in the legislature are among the safest in the nation. While that can work well in many cases where the incumbents do a great job, democracy thrives on competition. If incumbents feel too safe, they can lost their sense of being accountable to the people they represent. Healthy competition insures that candidates strive for re-election, and spend time with their constituents.

How has the Citizens Election program faired over the first batch of primaries? Quite well, it would appear. Normally Connecticut sees at most a dozen primaries in the legislative races. This year there were 18. While incumbents remained somewhat safe, one challenger prevailed in Bridgeport, and several party endorsed candidates were defeated. As well, the number of unopposed races has dropped fairly dramatically. According to numbers from the Secretary of State's office show the number dropping from 71 unopposed races in 2006, to 60 this year. At least 70% of the candidates running in Connecticut will use the program, and many of them have indicated overall satisfaction with the Citizens Election Program so far.

I've spoken with at least five candidates who said they never would have thought of running for office if CEP weren't available. From single moms and retired bankers, to a retired cop living in the poorest of neighborhoods, folks from all walks of life are stepping up and offering their skills and ideas to the people of Connecticut. Many candidates, incumbents and challengers alike, are thrilled with the time they have free from fundraising that they can spend attending community events and walking neighborhoods. People who are facing tight budgets can give five dollars to their candidate and know they made a real difference.

It's summer time and the living in easy. But not in Connecticut. In Connecticut, Democracy is hard at work.

Jay Mandle on T. Boone Pickens' plan

Jay Mandle analyzes the strange-bedfellows partnership between oilman T. Boone Pickens and environmentalists on the topic of promoting wind power to reduce our dependence on oil. As Mandle points out, these two camps won't just need each other to push through substantive clean energy reforms -- they'll also likely need to overcome the power of wealthy special interests like Big Oil.

Pickens is a steadfast Republican who notoriously financed the Swift Boat attack on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004. But in advancing his plan, he will find more allies among environmentalists than among his conservative friends....

Many environmentalists welcome Pickens' wind power initiative, whatever his past politics.

But even Pickens will have to battle entrenched energy special interests that have long stymied the environmental movement. Since 1990, donors associated with the oil and gas industries gave $220.4 million to politicians running for office, compared to just $3.4 million from donors connected to alternative energy production and services firms. In our political system, where private funding buys political influence, alternative energy advocates simply lacked the clout to get Congress to support renewables. Even with Pickens on their side, the green movement cannot hope to compete in the pay-to-play system of campaign financing.

Again, it points to comprehensive reform like public financing as a first step to solving other, major problems.

Philadelphia call for Clean Elections

Adam Bonin writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the need, despite a hostile Supreme Court, for public funding systems throughout the country.

The majority's rationale rested on the notion that leveling electoral opportunities for less-wealthy candidates was not a legitimate government objective. That's a shame, because the smalldonor revolution that propelled Obama's presidential campaign has not yet reached the state or local levels.

To reform this system, states such as Arizona, Connecticut and Maine have implemented innovative methods to allow candidates to receive a public grant that covers campaign costs in exchange for forgoing private fund-raising.

In order to ensure a fair contest, candidates participating in the system can receive additional grants if their non-participating rivals or outside groups supporting them end up spending funds in excess of the public grant.

The result: a legislature that is more economically diverse than one that proceeded it - with diner waitresses and social workers now joining chambers once reserved for the well-connected - and one that is not beholden to special interests or entrenched wealth.

More on that topic: the New York Times praised the high participation from candidates in the newly-created Connecticut public funding system, which goes into effect this year. Over 65% of candidates have opted in, and more may join them -- only 10 out of over 300 candidates have said they won't be running publicly-funded.

Public financing encourages good governance as well as competition. Government is cleaner when lawmakers are not beholden to special interests and are free to spend their energy meeting the needs of the people who matter -- those who elected them.

Connecticut, which became known as "Corrupticut" after the recent scandals, can only benefit from this new system.

Lunsford should sign Voters First Pledge

Bruce Lunsford, Democratic Senate candidate from Kentucky, wrote himself a $1 million check the day after the Supreme Court struck down the so-called Millionaire's Amendment of BCRA.

That's the way the system works -- kinda rotten for average non-wealthy folks, which is most of us, but that's the way it is. For now.

Lunsford should make clear that he's not about keeping it that way, with the Senate resembling an elite country club, and he should sign the Voters First Pledge in support of public financing for Congress. A tip of the cap to our friends at Campaign Money Watch for sending Lunsford a letter telling him to do so.

Back to bundling

The New York Times calls out the Obama campaign's recent pursuit of Hillary Clinton's biggest bundlers as a demonstration that while the small donor surge is terrific, it does not replace public financing in large part because it means that lots of cash is coming from wealthy donors, too.

Senator Obama is scheduled to meet Thursday with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her platinum card money raisers. One group specialized in amassing $250,000 packages for the campaign, while another excelled at hitting $1 million jackpots.

The voters should not be fooled. They must demand that both candidates explain how they will reform the campaign-finance system so no future candidate has any excuse for going into hock to the bundlers and their special-interest donors.

What we've been saying all along.

Update: Worth noting that last week USA Today criticized Obama's decision to opt out of public funding, but also published Obama's response in which he said, "The decision not to participate in the public financing system wasn't an easy one � especially because I support a robust system of public financing of elections," and "I am firmly committed to reforming the system as president, so that it's viable in today's campaign climate." That's great, but he needs to keep saying that, not just in one response column but in campaigning throughout the country.

Common Cause Weekly Update - June 11, 2008

Common Cause continues its efforts to hold power accountable.

Abuse of Power: Forging the Path to Recovery

Common Cause hosted a distinguished panel on June 10 to discuss the widespread abuse of power engaged in by the current Administration. The Administration has disregarded the rule of law through over-broad assertions of executive power, abuse of signing statements, and policies that arguably flout the Constitution regarding interrogation, detention, and intelligence gathering. The Congress has repeatedly failed to perform its constitutionally mandated oversight duties in each of these areas.

The panelists were charged with examining these disturbing trends and with considering how best to restore the constitutional constraints that have served our country well since its inception.