Ed Fallon: Culver, Other Dems "All Too Comfortable with Present System"State Representative and gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon (D-Des Moines) held a press conference at the Capitol today to show how Secretary of State Chet Culver’s campaign finance reports show the need for a Clean Elections Law in Iowa.
“The whole campaign finance system is corrupt, with elections being sold to the highest bidder, rather than won by the candidates with the best ideas for moving our state forward,” Fallon said.
Over 65% of Culver’s donations in 2005 came from outside of Iowa, including over $300,000 from Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.
“I think it’s obvious that donors from Chevy Chase, Maryland or Dallas, Texas who gave Chet tens of thousands will probably have more influence than a donor from Creston or Cresco who gave him $10,” Fallon said.
While refusing donations from political action committees, paid lobbyists and large donors, Fallon still received 2114 donations in 2005, compared to Culver’s 2080. However, Fallon’s average donor gave $52.08, while Culver’s average donor gave over $658.
“For my average donor, their donation is the price of a night out at the movies with their family,” Fallon said. “For Culver’s donors, it’s the cost of the monthly payment on a Mercedes Benz.”
Fallon went on to say that many of his opponents have become “all too comfortable” with the present political system.
“I think they’re all good people, but they’ve been sucked into a system that is flawed,” Fallon said. “It’s not that they’re dirty, but they are all too comfortable with the current system.”
