Should the Dems Raise SuperPAC Money?
The POLITICO Arena question of the day asks whether the Democrats are being hypocritical to raise SuperPAC $ while excoriating the Citizens United decision to allow unlimited giving to political campaigns. I’ll give you my answer below–would love to know how you would have replied.
Politico Arena question: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have started raising money for Democratic “super PACs,” diving into the world of outside groups after condemning this type of fundraising in the most recent election cycle. Pelosi and Reid pushed for passage of a crackdown on campaign fundraising last year in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling.
Are the Democratic leaders and co. hypocritical for using the (legal) fundraising tactics they recently shunned? Or would they be silly to unilaterally disarm heading into 2012?
Here’s how I answered: The unavoidable truth: Democrats will have no power to change the rules (or the makeup of the courts responsible for the Citizens United travesty) for the better if they don’t hold political office.
Power and money are both are like hammers. You can use them to break a house apart or to build it. The Democrats’ true test will be to raise enough money to win races, then keep a post-election commitment to change our money-corrupted system. And while they’re at it, they can hammer away at the Republicans’ opposition to DISCLOSE.
Floor’s open to debate!
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Karin Lippert: I agree with you 99.9 percent of the time, but on this… didn’t we have control of the House & Senate with Reid and Pelosi, and isn’t the President now cozying up to Wall Street?
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Gloria: I made no representations re the Dem’s performance when they held power, only that being in power is a prerequisite to getting something done. I have a feeling we share frustration about how they squandered their franchise.