LOD: Target the Pressure

Public Campaign has a good bi-partisan campaign that challenges members of the debt reduction Super Committee to stop raising money while they are choosing whose ox will be gored by possible spending cuts or tax increases. The nonprofit has calculated that each of the 12 Members has so much money already stockpiled that they can afford to take a break – collectively, their campaign accounts have $20 million in cash-on-hand. But even as the Committee began meeting, most of them kept up a vigorous fundraising schedule, hosting or attending $1,000-a-person events with lobbyists and their clients – it’s almost laughable to read. Public Campaign scored a victory with a pledge by one member, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), to embargo fundraising for his own campaign. He’s under pressure to stop helping others, too. The bi-partisan campaign is a great illustration of how a focused grassroots effort, with an incremental goal, can yield results.