A View from the US Primaries
I liked this quote from Gail Collins at NYT on the recent primary results
We have been entertaining ourselves with theories about how this election year is going to be all about voter anger. Or Washington insiders. Or health care. Or TARP. But, really, it’s going to be about money. Gobs of cash falling on campaigns like tar balls on a beach.
So we welcome Ms Whitman and Ms Fiorina to the stage that once was once mainly paid for by Mr. Schwazenegger and Mr. Bloomberg. And of course, we hear that Mr. Bloomberg’s “domestic partner” was solicited to appear as an attractive Bloombergesque fresh face. Perhaps even money bags Limbaugh will consider joining in the fun as well, along with his new trophy bride. But there is a darker side to the money game. This quote catches the flavor of the thing
“If you want to run a nasty negative ad, the public should have the right to know who you really are,” said Chuck Schumer, the Senate sponsor of the painfully named Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act. Under the bill, a theoretical ad would not only say it was paid for by Friends of Puppies but also that the top Friends of Puppies donors were BP, Goldman Sachs, A.I.G., Halliburton and Blackwater.
The bill is scheduled to go to the floor of the House soon, but it has gotten heavy artillery from the Republican leadership, as well as groups of all stripes that don’t want to reveal their big donors.
The idea of a “Friends of Puppies” PAC funded by a business cabal is just a bad dream … right? Something out of a Dickens novel. Ralph Nickleby (before his fall) would have embraced the idea readily. But come to think of it, US business/politics is looking a bit like a Dickens’ bad dream of the future, fueled by an extended evening of excessive celebration (the Victorian equivalent of too much late night pizza and beer). Or perhaps I am not yet in the swing of things. Yes, it must be me. Perhaps I am just a bit paranoid after the two US invasions and their extended mishandling, Katrina, the great financial crash, and now the seeping mess in the Gulf of Mexico. But I do wonder about what Mr. Blankfein et al are up to. And is anyone keeping tabs on Mr. Cheney? Yes, I know. Pass me another slice of pizza and I will shut up.
Here is the link to Ms Collins’ entertaining editorial.