September 4, 2000


Features

Never Mind the Bollocks
BY BILL BOISVERT

Here's the new Republican Party

The Battle of Philadelphia
BY DAVE LINDORFF

Working It
BY DAVID MOBERG
Will unions go all out for Gore?

Black Radicals Regroup
BY SALIM MUWAKKIL
Detroit hosts the Black Radical Congress.

Mad Sheep Scare
BY TERRY J. ALLEN
Farmers, scientists and the USDA square off in Vermont.


News

Cleaning Up
BY HANS JOHNSON
Missouri, Oregon consider campaign finance initiatives.

Star Strike
BY BEN WINTERS
Actors demand a better deal.

Renegade or Redeemer?
BY STEVE ELLNER

Hugo Chavez leads Venezuela into a new era.

The New Front
BY KARI LYDERSEN

American anti-abortion groups crusade in Ireland.

Profile
BY TED KLEINE

Johnny Lira is in their corner.


Views

Editorial
BY DAVID MOBERG
Big money problems.

Appall-O-Meter
BY DAVID FUTRELLE

A Terry Laban Cartoon

Dialogue: The Balkans
More Conspiracy Theories?
BY EDWARD S. HERMAN

A Humanitarian Crusade
BY DIANA JOHNSTONE


Culture

A Man for All Seasons
BY HOWARD ZINN
Francis Wheen's Marx: A Life.

Interstate Rambler
BY PHILIP CONNORS
On the road with Larry McMurty.

England's Dreaming
BY JOHN GHAZVINIAN
History falls off the back of a lorry.

Under the Influence
BY JASON SHOLL
Sadie Plant writes on drugs.

Vanishing Act
BY
JOSHUA ROTHKOPF
Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man.

Presidential Dance Parties
BY GREG SMITHSIMON

 
Big Money Problems

By David Moberg

Billionaires For Bush (Or Gore) - a clever spoof launched by United for a Fair Economy at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia - concisely nailed the upshot of our campaign finance system: Big Money United Will Never Be Defeated.

The money certainly has been rolling in for the Republicans, just as one might expect of a political party devoted to eliminating the estate tax. By early August contributions totaled a record $93 million for Bush, $155 million to the Republican Party, and even more to all the individual and group campaign committees. "Retired," mainly a euphemism for what used to be called "the idle rich," constituted the top "industry" contributing to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But the story playing out two weeks later at the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles is much the same. Lawyers topped the list of industries among contributors to the Democrats (the party had raised $113 million and Gore $52 million at the beginning of August). But securities and investment, real estate and insurance were among the top half-dozen industries contributing to both parties. The Democrats tapped more from the entertainment and computer industries than the Republicans, but many corporations contributed equally big bucks to sponsor both conventions - including AT&T, General Motors, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

There is at least one major difference between the parties: Unions were among the Democrats' major contributors, but they gave very little to Republicans. Yet unions still have accounted for only about 10 percent of the Democratic Party's money. That's one reason why the Democrats are a weak version of a working-class party - even though if Gore wins this fall, he may receive nearly one-third of his votes from union households (see Working It,).

Money distorts politics, magnifying a million-fold the agenda of the rich, at least until the Supreme Court decision equating money and speech is overturned. It also narrows the spectrum of political choices and reduces the level of citizen participation in government. Ultimately, money's influence undermines democracy and deprives average citizens of power over their lives.

The corrupting force of money in politics is gradually gaining traction with the public, as indicated in Bill Bradley and John McCain's presidential primary campaigns, but even more so by the growing support for state initiatives for clean elections (see Cleaning Up). But the question of campaign finance reform was banished from the Republican Convention. The Democratic platform at least pledges support for the McCain-Feingold legislation and "publicly guaranteed TV time for debates and advocacy by candidates," but Gore's proposal to raise private funds for a "Democracy Endowment" to finance elections is a wimpy and pointless alternative to public financing.

Reducing the power of money in politics is an essential step toward revitalizing democracy, but it is not enough. The winner-take-all electoral system greatly reduces Americans' political choices, pushing candidates relentlessly toward the center. The country would benefit greatly by adopting systems of proportional representation, and the interest in new parties and independents, from Perot to Buchanan to Nader, suggests that many Americans of different political outlooks might rally to a new system that guarantees a voice for divergent and minority views.

Campaign and election reforms are needed not just to create a formally fairer democratic system, but also to shift the balance of power to citizens who are now socially weak and alienated. It is not simply the cleanliness of elections that's at stake. It is a question of whether citizens, especially the working-class majority, have the power through government to shape their own lives. It is ultimately a choice between democracy, or rule by the people, and our growing trend toward plutocracy, or rule by the rich.

David Moberg is a senior editor of In These Times.

 


In These Times © 2000
Vol. 24, No. 20

 

 

Election 2000 Coverage


Never Mind the Bollocks
BY BILL BOISVERT

Here's the new Republican Party
September 4 , 2000


The Battle of Philadelphia
BY DAVE LINDORFF

September 4 , 2000


Working It
BY DAVID MOBERG
Will unions go all out for Gore?

September 4 , 2000


Editorial
BY DAVID MOBERG
Big money problems.
September 4 , 2000


Cleaning Up
BY HANS JOHNSON
Missouri, Oregon consider campaign finance initiatives

September 4 , 2000


Why I'm Voting for Nader ...
BY ROBERT McCHESNEY
August 21, 2000


... And Why I'm Not
BY JAMES WEINSTEIN
August 21, 2000


Dumped
BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
August 7, 2000
Bush's dirty politics turn an Texas town into a sewer.


An Environmental President
BY GUY SAPERSTEIN
August 7, 2000


Three's Company
BY JOHN NICHOLS
July 10, 2000
Third parties strategize for the November elections.


Editorial
BY JOEL BLEIFUSS
June 12, 2000
Memo to third parties: Face Reality.


Marching On
BY DAVE LINDORFF
June 12, 2000
Unity 2000 plans to disrupt this summer's GOP convention



Party Palace
BY NATHANIEL HELLER
May 1, 2000
George W. Bush's lucrative sleepovers


Stupid Tuesday
BY HANS JOHNSON
April 17, 2000
After Super Tuesday, progressives mull over missed opportunities


What Women Want
BY DAVID MOBERG
April 17, 2000
Working women's votes could seal Al Gore's fate. But is he listening to them?


David vs. Goliath
BY KARI LYDERSEN
April 17, 2000
Socialist presidential candidate David McReynolds


How to Deal with Gore
BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR and LOIS GIBBS
April 17, 2000
Love him or leave him?


Ralph Really Runs
BY DOUG IRELAND
April 3, 2000
Nader kicks off his second bid for president


Editorial
March 20, 2000
Flub watch.


On the Fence
BY MATTHEW KNOESTER
March 20, 2000
Human rights or big oil for Al Gore?


The First Stone
BY JOEL BLEIFUSS
March 6, 2000
Vanishing voters.


Gush vs. Bore
BY DOUG IRELAND
March 6, 2000


Free Ride
BY PAT MURPHY
March 6, 2000
Meet the real John McCain.


Cash and Carry
BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
March 6, 2000
George W. Bush's environmental menace.


Fair Weather Friends
BY JUAN GONZALEZ
March 6, 2000
Candidates court the Latino vote.


More Marketplace Medicine
BY DAVID MOBERG
March 6, 2000
Neither Democrats' health plan will fix the system.


New Labor, Old Politics
BY DAVID MOBERG
November 14, 1999


Bradley Courts the Black Vote
BY SALIM MUWAKKIL
October 31, 1999


Changing Primary Colors
BY DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK
June 13, 1999


The Great Right Hope
BY RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Who is George W. Bush?
May 30, 1999


Money Money Money!
BY NEIL SWANSON
Al Gore and Bill Bradley go one-on-one.
May 30, 1999