For the last week we've received some interesting emails and comments from our members about Change Congress's stance on Obama's decision to opt out of public financing. Our basic response is one echoed by some' pundits and those working in the reform movement over the last two decades. It's a tough situation for any candidate to be in. The current public finance system is a mess and desperately needs to be overhauled.
Public financing is only one piece of the overall campaign reform puzzle, yet, a vital one. The recent dancing around public funding by McCain and Obama is a situation that no candidate should have to be in -- choosing between a broken system that could cost them the election while gaining positive press or being called a "flip flopper" for opting out of that same broken system.
The current public financing system fails to address major loopholes abused by both parties over the past twenty years. Until this needed reform happens, we're foolish to think that any candidates able to raise more on their own would ever opt-in to a broken system that could end up costing them a victory down the line.
The Big Loophole - the explosion of 527 groups over the past ten years has given rise to the nastiest negative campaigning we have seen in our time. On both sides of the aisle 527 groups have made it their raison d'etre to challenge and accuse candidates not in line with their political ideals, launching powerful, well-funded attacks that can single-handedly change the outcome of an election. While many of these groups do not (and indeed by law cannot) work with or coordinate with a campaign, they are often ideologically aligned with one candidate and are often staffed with members of the same political party
The Big Flaw - the $84 million that public financing offers is not enough to run a presidential campaign in this economy. The problem is not that there is too much money in politics, rather that there is too much of the wrong kind of money in politics -- money from lobbyists and PAC organizations, people who expect favors later on. If we want a public financing system to be legitimate we have to honestly address the shortfalls that this sum of money leaves in its wake; the cost of national advertising on television, radio and internet being a major one. Or the cost of employing a national grassroots staff working in every state in the country. The public financing offer from the government should be realistic compared with the costs of a presidential campaign. If we want candidates to buy into the system, make them a decent offer. They aren't going to accept a used Chevy Malibu when they can buy a new Ferrari with their own money.
Pundits on the right say Obama is a hypocrite, given his pledge to accept public funding earlier in the campaign and then recently deciding not to. Both candidates could be called as such. McCain gladly accepted public financing during the Republican primaries when he was losing and broke, and then petitioned the Federal Election Commission to opt back out when he was winning and wealthy (and now he's opting back IN). Neither are wrong, they are simply doing the expected political shifting based on our broken system.
I can't wait for the day when a well-crafted, mutually agreed-upon, public financing system is finally ready to be implemented. But that day will come only after enough of us stand up to change that system by making it possible for politicians who fight for issues like public financing to win office and take this change to Washington. Change Congress is about working with you and other organizations dedicated to reforming this system from the inside out. The current system isn't working for the people, so it must be changed by the people from the bottom up. You can help, be a part of our movement, help us re-build this broken system. Join us! Its only our government if we work to reclaim it.
I've known about Lawrence Lessig for a total of 2 months…so not so long compared to most of you. You might also say that I am new to this whole world…the blogging world and the world of technology. Given this is my second post ever.
Before I joined Change Congress (C-C), I was clear about how I wanted to spend the next decade of my life, I wanted to find someone with "BIG IDEAS" and help to make them happen. And like all of us, I wanted this next decade to define my "foot print" (not carbon) of contribution to this world. I think it is safe to say…I really had no idea what I was getting into.
Now that it's been a couple of months as the new Executive Director to Lawrence Lessig's new movement, I don't feel as shy to share my voice with the C-C community. And…to take a moment to brag about my new boss, because to me, he is new and he is taking on the boldest idea yet, reforming our Congress. I invite you to take a look at his latest speech given in Minneapolis at the National Conference on Media Reform.
Greetings to you, our Change Congress community. You’ve not heard my voice on our blog as of yet, I am the Executive Director for Change Congress and no doubt you will be hearing more from me. I have an invitation for all qualified candidates. Please read below and reply if you’re serious and you meet all specifications. We are located in downtown San Francisco.
Duties:
Drive people to the C-C web site and keep the community engaged in our process.
Find and implement the latest organizing technology and tools for the growing Change Congress community.
With use of cutting edge technology, empower our community to make the greatest impact for our cause.
Work with developers and political director to build new organizing technology to support the Change Congress community.
Present monthly updates to staff highlighting options for organizing technology we could utilize for future strategy building.
Proactive thinker and team player
Job Description:
Direct and design the technical framework for our website.
Blog on website and engage with community; keep the community excited about C-C work.
Anticipate and design new tools for community to use and engage in as necessary/needed.
Engage with other bloggers.
Work with technical team to ensure site is built and updated, and tools are being used.
Work in conjunction with Political Director to drive messages to community.
Requirements:
Software product management experience a plus.
History of political blogging experience a big plus.
Previously worked on successful technical project.
Please, only qualified serious candidates need apply. Submit your resume to admin@change-congress.org. Include 2-3 paragraphs in a cover letter along with your resume telling us why you feel you would be perfect for this position with this organization at this moment in time. Salary is commensurate based on experience. Please no phone calls.
We're excited to say that our first Change Congress candidate, Chellie Pingree won her democratic primary last night over Democrat Adam Cote and C-C's other committed candidate, Ethan Strimling. We were thrilled to have two C-C candidates vying for the seat and it's a real testament to the people of Maine's first congressional district and the type of change they want in Washington, D.C. that two C-C candidates were so well represented (well, Pingree a bit more than Strimling when all was said and done).
Both C-C candidates were outstanding and we thank them for participating in perhaps one of the toughest parts of an active democracy: running for elected office. Ethan Strimling ran an incredible campaign on a minuscule budget that depended upon everyday people engaging their neighbors and friends and spreading the word about their candidate. Chellie Pingree, former director of Common Cause and one-time candidate for U.S. Senate, has been actively engaged in working for change for decades in Maine. Thanks so much to both of them for a great race and we'll be watching Chellie as she takes on Republican Charles Summers in November.
Today, two C-C candidates are squaring off in Maine's First Congressional District. Ethan Striming and Chellie Pingree, both of whom signed the C-C pledge, are battling amongst other Democratic candidates for the open seat left by Rep. Tom Allen who is challenging Republican Susan Collins for governor.
CQ Politics has a brief writeup of the political landscape in Maine's first district and it looks as though the latest polls have favored Pingree in part because of her political history within the state. Strimling, for his part, committed to all four C-C pledges and has run an incredible campaign on a shoestring budget. Pingree, committed to all but the first C-C pledge.
I'm looking for early results before the polls close in Maine. If anyone has any results they'd like to post please do!
Change Congress' own Jim Cooper of Tennessee was interviewed on Nashville's Liberadio Show and talked about the earmark conundrum and the important issues that the Change Congress community is working on. Congressman Cooper took pledges two through four and was the first member of Congress to sign on.
Those of you in the Tennessee Fightin' Fifth (and anyone else that would like to) let Jim know that you support his effort to fully support public campaigns, reform the earmark process and stand up for transparency in our government.
I've given now four versions of the lecture launching Change Congress. You can see them all (and more) at the Change Congress channel at blip.tv [change-congress.blip.tv]. Some have asked for the resources to remix (by which I take it they mean, improve on) the message. I've very happily now made those resources available here.
On that page you'll find links to two directories, one related to the April 4 Harvard speech, and the other related to the April 11 UCSB speech. Each folder has a keynote file, a ppt file, an image for each slide, and a zip wrapping up all the images. The page will be fancied up soon enough. Everything is under a CC-BY license. Remix away.
In case you didn't have a chance to be in Boston two weeks ago, here is Lessig's Change Congress talk at Harvard. Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) joined Lessig at this address as well.
When I first heard about Change Congress, my immediate reaction was, "it's about time." As Lawrence Lessig pointed out in the powerpoint slide he used to introduce the organization, the issues that Change Congress tackles, even if they may not seem like the most important issues, are the first ones. Finally there was an organization that was going to allow for unprecedented interconnectedness between people who were concerned about the sorry state of this country's policy-making apparatus.
In that spirit, I started talking to somefriends about ways to help spread the word and create incentives for websites to promote Change Congress. What we came up with was Blogrolling for Change, the rules of which are explained here.
The idea is simple: Say you have a website or a blog. If you write a page or post with the Change Congress button and a couple paragraphs explaining why you support Change Congress, you can then email or post to us and we'll add it to our del.icio.us account and send you the HTML to add the del.icio.us links to your site. That way, each Change Congress post will show up on each website.
It's a relatively modest way of promoting Change Congress, but our hope as the websites signed on to Blogrolling for Change begin to support each other with increased traffic and people who didn't already know about Change Congress start to see that familiar button on more and more websites, the program will take on a life of its own. After all, this is an issue that a huge majority of Americans, liberal and conservative alike, should be able to agree on - the tricky part is just raising awareness of how important the problem is first.
If you would like to get your website on the Blogrolling for Change blogroll, don't hesitate to email me.
Ed Fallon is a Democrat, and candidate for Congress in Iowa's 3d congressional district. He is a Change Congress candidate (pledging 4 out of 4 planks), and I asked him to write a bit about why he has chosen not to accept money from lobbyists and PACs. Here's his post:
Throughout my political career, I have refused contributions from PACs and lobbyists. Since 1992, campaign finance reform has been the centerpiece of my political agenda. Nearly every other issue – including health care, the environment, and sustainable agriculture – is compromised by the presence of corporate money in politics. America needs what Maine, Arizona and Connecticut have at the state level: voluntary public financing of elections.
When I ran for Governor of Iowa in 2006, as a matter of principle I maintained my commitment to running a campaign free of big money. Pundits predicted I’d receive only 5% – 10% of the vote, but I finished a strong third with 26%. In fact, I won Iowa’s third congressional district, and now I’m running for Congress against a Democratic incumbent who has voted far too often with President Bush and against the priorities most Iowans value.
My opponent is Congressman Leonard Boswell, who in 2007 raised $722,327. Of that amount, 74% came from PACs, the vast majority from corporate PACs, including Wal-mart, AT&T, Boeing and various agribusiness interests.
Serving in the Iowa Legislature without PAC or lobbyist money allowed me to be a consistent, progressive voice for the public’s interest. If we are to take back our government and our country, we need to build a bluer Democratic Congress one seat at a time. My primary election is an opportunity to do that, and I welcome the support of reform-minded Americans in Iowa and beyond. For more information about my campaign and to make a donation, please visit FallonforCongress.com. Thanks!
So welcome to our blog. All posts on my blog related to Change Congress will be echoed here, and sometimes when something makes sense here only, I'll post it here only.
One promise: Everything posted under my name purporting to be from me will be written by me.
Hopefully, we've been reasonably good at returning email. What we're finding is that there is an immense amount of energy out there to achieve the goals that Change Congress stand for and its been an amazing week with Congressman Cooper's pledge as well as many other candidates running for Congress this election cycle. We'll be releasing these candidate's once we confirm their pledge support.
For now, please use this blog as a communication tool. We know its rather simple right now and as we get rolling we'll be adding more pieces to it, but it will serve the purpose of getting the conversation going at the moment. Also, we hope people will post their own updates on research, information and tidbits they're finding about their own members of Congress from their districts.
Thanks again and stay tuned for more as we pick up the pace.
