LOD: Updating Public Financing

Despite the flood of self-serving money swamping the 2012 elections, better souls are not giving up: They’re taking the long view, looking for an alternative to elections as auctions among billionaires. One component of any long-term strategy involves creating new streams of clean money for campaign financing. Even if a constitutional amendment reversed the worst of Citizens United, we’d still need a way for relatively poor candidates with strong grassroots connections to finance their election campaigns. Democracy 21 and the Brennan Center for Justice have released a new model of public financing that incorporates the latest Supreme Court rulings and still offers a viable path for candidates committed to focusing on voters and small donors. Read their news release for a quick summary of the key components of the plan, which is designed for Congressional candidates but could be adapted to other offices. We need a radical makeover of the presidential public financing program, which is woefully out of date. Mitt Romney is making some news by saying he’d use that public financing program for his re-election campaign in 2016 – but you can bet he wouldn’t if it remains stuck in the 20th century. Mitt driving a Chevette?