Many challengers can operate an ethical campaign
Since the lobbyist Abramoff's troubles appear so far, to mostly touch Republicans, Democrats this year could gain an electoral advantage and eventually boost their share of seats in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. Thus, as big money contributions have been flowing from the Washington lobbyist industry to "winners", Democratic challengers in this year's elections will be more susceptible to lobbyist campaign contributors.
Since Democrats have a chance to gain control of at least one chamber of Congress, lobbyists who have long favored, and therefore contributed to, Republicans, are beginning to hedge their bets. According to one leading Washington-based lobbyist firm, "It seems to be a little bit easier to get money for Democratic candidates than it was a few months ago."
Democratic challenger candidates, this is your opportunity
to be ethical, and refuse financial contributions from lobbyists. Use the "political capital" you brought into your candidacy from past public service, to claim to your district's voters that you will be clean of undue big money influence. We at share your concern for good government. We want your help to spread the message that public servants, who have the American people's and the nation's interests as their first priority over lobbyists', will be more accountable to their voters. Become a VOID member and we will use your membership dues to spread this message and help end the corruption.
Source: Washington Post
Comments
David, the BIG question is, can they win on an ethical campaign financing package? Until large numbers of voters demand clean campaign financing, the prospects of ethical campaigns remains in doubt.
Remember that much of the money raised ethically or not, is used to persuade the public of the candidates value to them. As long as unethical campaign financing continues to persuade the public in favor of the candidate, incumbents will have a tremendous advantage over ethical challengers.
Posted by: David R. Remer | February 14, 2006 2:27 AM
Yes, money in politics makes it rotten to the core. Government is FOR SALE. The parties just take turns at sharing the majority, abusing the power during their time as majority, and some how convince voters to return incumbents to office to do it some more.
But, the problem is not parties.
The problem is all parties are full of irresponsible incumbents.
Hopefully, voters will eventually get wise to this, and take off their partisan blinders, understand that growing corruption is a given; simply what always happens when voters ignore government that is always trying to grow more corrupt. Sad but true. The only way to stop it is to always vote out (or recall) irresponsible incumbents, every election. Stop returning incumbents to their cu$hy, coveted seats. Stop empowering incumbents to abuse you over and over!
Look at how incumbents vote. It is not as complicated as incumbent politicians want people to think it is. It's not rocket science.
Incumbent politicians' voting records show most of them refuse to vote for campaign finance reforms.
No reforms are possible without getting the newcomers and incumbent politicians' attention first. Newcomers to congress need the voters help. Some newcomers to congress would like to pass some badly-needed, common-sense reforms, but incumbents won't allow it. Incumbents pressure, tempt, threaten, shun, and isolate newcomers that reject the status quo. Since incumbents always outnumber newcomers, most newcomers succumb.
Transparency and checks-and-balances are needed. Voters are part of that checks-and-balances system. Since politicians will never reform themselves, the last hope is now up to voters.
But voters have forgotten their duty. Voters are complacent, or resigned to despair, or seduced into the petty partisan warfare.
Voters have forgotten the one simple, common-sense, non-partisan, inexpensive, peaceful, and responsible thing they were supposed to be doing all along:
The last 25 years of fiscal and moral irresponsibility will have painful consequences, and it can only grow more painful the longer the voters wait.
Posted by: d.a.n | February 14, 2006 11:38 AM
David, you are right. The longer the voters wait to wake up to the fact that they are being bamboozled as a result of their own laziness, the harder it is going to be to extricate ourselves from the vat of corruption that deepens each day.
2008 will be too late.
Do you know who your candidates are for November 2006?
Posted by: Abbe Allen | February 27, 2006 11:50 AM