Posts with the tag campaign finance
The political season seems old already, because of the need for perpetual fundraising. In order to "compete" in the modern campaign, candidates for federal office must spend, on average, 4-6 hours per day calling donors.
In colloquial terms, this is known as "dialing for dollars."
The fundraising dynamic is nothing new to politics. It's just that the numbers have grown at an almost exponential rate over the past decade.
The advent of Internet fundraising has helped level the playing field in terms of giving smaller donors a meaningful way of participating. But donors, who call themselves bundlers, rangers, or any other campaign-created distinction reserved for the wealthy, are still driving fundraising for federal candidates.
So why do candidates perpetuate this madness? The short answer is because they've been told this is what it takes to win.
In all fairness, the presidential public financing system has not kept up with inflation and thus must be repaired. Candidates need to believe they are not unilaterally disarming by accepting public financing. Accordingly, when the new Congress convenes next year, there must be immediate action taken to fix the system and offer proper stipend amounts.
What makes this election year different from the past is that all of the remaining presidential candidates ostensibly support the idea of expanding public financing systems to Congressional races. Despite their rhetoric on the issue, they have all danced around the idea of using the system for the general election.
This is wrong.
Read More »
In colloquial terms, this is known as "dialing for dollars."
The fundraising dynamic is nothing new to politics. It's just that the numbers have grown at an almost exponential rate over the past decade.
The advent of Internet fundraising has helped level the playing field in terms of giving smaller donors a meaningful way of participating. But donors, who call themselves bundlers, rangers, or any other campaign-created distinction reserved for the wealthy, are still driving fundraising for federal candidates.
So why do candidates perpetuate this madness? The short answer is because they've been told this is what it takes to win.
In all fairness, the presidential public financing system has not kept up with inflation and thus must be repaired. Candidates need to believe they are not unilaterally disarming by accepting public financing. Accordingly, when the new Congress convenes next year, there must be immediate action taken to fix the system and offer proper stipend amounts.
What makes this election year different from the past is that all of the remaining presidential candidates ostensibly support the idea of expanding public financing systems to Congressional races. Despite their rhetoric on the issue, they have all danced around the idea of using the system for the general election.
This is wrong.
Read More »
Yesterday was the first deadline of the year for candidates to file campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State's office. Candidates are encouraged (I write "encouraged" because anybody filing a report can claim a "hardship" and fax in their paper reports) to file donation and expenditure reports on-line.
According to news reports, the Secretary of State's office has announced that it is granting a 24-hour extension for candidates to file. Additionally, the public learned this morning that this first set of campaign finance reports will not be available on-line until May 26th.
May 26th. That's just one week before the June 3rd primary election. Consider that the second candidate campaign finance report is due to be filed on May 29th. If the Secretary of State's office continues this practice of delayed public disclosure, then the second report won't be available until June 12th -- nine days after the primary election.
Folks, it's 2008. New Mexico has had an electronic reporting law on the books for five years.
Ostensibly, the law has been in effect for over two years.
With today's news of deadline extensions and two-week delays, one can only conclude that, when it comes to on-line reporting and public transparency, the Land of Enchantment has been thrown back to the Dark Ages.
According to news reports, the Secretary of State's office has announced that it is granting a 24-hour extension for candidates to file. Additionally, the public learned this morning that this first set of campaign finance reports will not be available on-line until May 26th.
May 26th. That's just one week before the June 3rd primary election. Consider that the second candidate campaign finance report is due to be filed on May 29th. If the Secretary of State's office continues this practice of delayed public disclosure, then the second report won't be available until June 12th -- nine days after the primary election.
Folks, it's 2008. New Mexico has had an electronic reporting law on the books for five years.
Ostensibly, the law has been in effect for over two years.
With today's news of deadline extensions and two-week delays, one can only conclude that, when it comes to on-line reporting and public transparency, the Land of Enchantment has been thrown back to the Dark Ages.
On Saturday, JD posted a nice piece on John McCain's first national, general election tv commercial, 7 months out from the November election. The Center for American Progress (CAP) also noted that McCain was in our neighboring state to the north this past Thursday, accepting a ton of campaign cash from the oil and gas industry at Denver's Petroleum Club (link).
As CAP reported, McCain's tax cut proposal provides $3.8 billion to Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero Energy and Marathon. To put that tax cut into perspective, it's a billion dollars more than the state of New Mexico spends on our entire public school system each year.
It's striking how McCain's Colorado fundraiser captures the fundamental outlines of the emerging presidential election contest.
First, the Southwest, and New Mexico in particular, are the nation's ground zero for the Presidential contest.
Second, the battle lines are being drawn, already framed in the Southwest: McCain the war hero versus McCain the corporate shill.
And third, this question over who the real John McCain is has parallels in New Mexico, as many Democratic and Republican candidates will soon struggle to reconcile their stated policy independence from their record of industry contributions. Read More »
As CAP reported, McCain's tax cut proposal provides $3.8 billion to Exxon/Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero Energy and Marathon. To put that tax cut into perspective, it's a billion dollars more than the state of New Mexico spends on our entire public school system each year.
It's striking how McCain's Colorado fundraiser captures the fundamental outlines of the emerging presidential election contest.
First, the Southwest, and New Mexico in particular, are the nation's ground zero for the Presidential contest.
Second, the battle lines are being drawn, already framed in the Southwest: McCain the war hero versus McCain the corporate shill.
And third, this question over who the real John McCain is has parallels in New Mexico, as many Democratic and Republican candidates will soon struggle to reconcile their stated policy independence from their record of industry contributions. Read More »
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