Clean Elections System Spreading
TomPaine.com

By Micah L. Sifry

The day after Election Day, the good people at the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), the nonpartisan group that is the pre-eminent source of data and analysis on who gives money to whom in politics, put out a press release with an apt title: "2004 Election Outcome: Money Wins."

Indeed, in the battle for Congress, the candidate with the largest wallet won 95 percent of all House races and 91 percent of all Senate races.

But while overall campaign spending rose 30 percent in 2004, topping $4 billion – led by two presidential candidates who raised more than half a billion in private contributions – something quite different took place in the states that have enacted Clean Money/Clean Elections systems: More candidates than ever are running for office on a limited budget of full public financing. And the system is spreading.

It takes time and steady organizing efforts to enact Clean Elections-style reform, and defenders of the status quo – many of whom profit greatly from it – are scarcely indifferent to this challenge to their power. But while the national headlines may seem discouraging, it's important to remember this essential fact about change in America – it always bubbles up from below.

Micah L. Sifry is senior analyst with Public Campaign.  He is the co-author of "Is That a Politician in Your Pocket? Washington on $2 Million a Day."

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