Public financing of elections needed By J. Scott Christianson

[Demeter]

OpEdNews

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_j__scott_070502_public_financing_of_.htm


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May 3, 2007

Public financing of elections needed

By J. Scott Christianson

The November 2008 presidential election is still more than 1½ years away, but 17 candidates are already seeking the Democratic or Republican nomination.

The reason for starting presidential campaigns so early is simple: money. The next president probably will have to raise more than $1 billion from private sources to win the White House in '08. No candidate can afford to let a competitor take the lead in raising money. In politics, money follows money....Though eight people seek the Democratic nomination, the enormous need for campaign funds means there are really only three serious contenders: Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and John Edwards. There is a finite number of Democratic donors with a finite amount of money to be had in this race. These three candidates have secured the majority of the big donors, and it is a matter of time before the other candidates start to drop out....Is this really how we want to narrow the field of candidates? Selecting the candidates only on the basis of how much special interest money they can raise?

Running for president hasn't always been this way. From 1976 to 2000, every president we elected funded his campaign through a system of public financing: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all participated in the federal system for publicly funding presidential elections.

This system worked well until the 2004 election, when the candidates who were "in it to win it" eschewed the public financing system because it had become underfunded and hadn't keep up with changes in primary elections. Since then, all candidates have assumed public money would not be enough to compete with a privately financed opponent.

Congress is considering the Presidential Funding Act of 2007, which would provide a much-needed update to the funding system. Although it would not have any impact on the presidential race in 2008, the bill would make sure an option for public financing is available to candidates in the 2012 race for the White House.

It is one of the most important pieces of legislation Congress will consider this session. Its fate will determine whether big money or big ideas dominate the 2012 presidential elections. If it doesn't pass, get ready for the 2012 "in it to win it" candidates to start asking for money in 2009.