Campaign Faux Sense
The Washington Post recently ran an obituary for the campaign finance regime. Born out of the Watergate scandals, the regime died of natural causes. Money always finds a way through. The more sectors of the U.S. economy that come under Uncle Sam's grasp, the more reason Americans will find to reach into their wallets for candidates and causes.
As the political class in Washington mourns for the old campaign finance regime, supporters of the system have cast their eyes toward the future. Last week, columnist George Will wrote about how an elementary school in the Washington suburbs has become a "laboratory" for a new kind of regulated democracy. Here is a preview of what could await America from Will's piece:
Which brings us to the reign of virtue at Bethesda Elementary School. There, campaign-finance reform reached an apogee in recent student elections to pick officers for the next school year. The Post reported this with overflowing approval under the headline “These elections stayed classy”:
“Candidates at the affluent, 500-student school, where many parents have political connections of one sort or another, can’t give out buttons. They can’t wear T-shirts bearing their names. They can’t talk about their competition. And they can’t make promises. Not even about school lunches.”
A 9-year-old candidate for vice president told The Post, “We can’t say certain things because the kids would get too excited.”Of course politics should be purged of excitement. But lest you get the wrong idea — the idea that liberalism would, if it could, so firmly restrict political speech that elective offices might as well be allocated by lotteries — the school authorities do permit candidates to post signs. Just six per candidate, however, and only as long as the signs say nothing about promises or rivals — or perhaps anything else.
The Post says the “constraints” were first imposed “in the 2008 election cycle to keep campaign expenditures from spiraling out of control.” Something uncontrolled? Can’t have that. Otherwise corruption or the appearance thereof — the rationale for adult speech “constraints” emanating from Washington — might become the serpent in the garden that is Bethesda Elementary.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Does an editorial by the leftist school newspaper decide who wins? That's the traditional way.
Nov '11
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Why does this plain simple fact elude so many great minds?
If you want to remove money from Washington politics, take power from Washington politics.
The money goes where the power is.
One of the many beauties of federalism is that leaving power at state and local level makes it less easy to purchase a national influence at wholesale prices. Instead, in a functioning federal system, for an influence to be pervasive, it would have to be purchased retail in hundreds of locales at thousands of elections at greater expense, with greater difficulty, and with jealous citizens standing close by to notice and interrupt the shenanigans. Yes, there would always be the Chicagos, but Chicago would remain Chicago's problem, rather than becoming the example for national government.
Mar '11
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Wow. Bethesda Elementary School has hit on holding student elections precisely like the ones held at my school forty years ago.
Now, if they'll only teach the kids the multiplication tables instead of this guff about "guesstimating" the answer and reaching it by consensus, maybe the little snots will actually learn something.
Jun '12
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Astonishing
Why does this plain simple fact elude so many great minds?
If you want to remove money from Washington politics, takepowerfrom Washington politics.
The money goes where the power is.
You have to understand the mindset of so many on the left. If they only have the right people in charge, with the right laws....heaven on earth.
I swear sometimes it's like talking to a wall.
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Another question: Why would anyone want an election without campaign promises? If students learn to meet promises for free soda with skepticism now, they will be more likely to meet promises for, say, free health care with skepticism later.
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Valin
Astonishing
Why does this plain simple fact elude so many great minds?
If you want to remove money from Washington politics, takepowerfrom Washington politics.
The money goes where the power is.
You have to understand the mindset of so many on the left. If they only have the right people in charge, with the right laws....heaven on earth.
I swear sometimes it's like talking to a wall. · 24 minutes ago
It's not a coincidence that the people who support campaign finance the most are the people who trust the voters the least.
Mar '12
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
You don't know what the Bethesda candidates believe.
You don't know what the Bethesda candidates want to do.
You might not know who the Bethesda candidates are.
The administration of Bethesda won't cede any authority to the winner/s.
And any opposition to that criteria is punishable under Article 58:10 of the Soviet constitution.
Dec '11
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
Interesting that this article should come out almost four years to the day that Obama rejected federal matching funds and effectively killed campaign finance limits.
I love how it was a so inspiring that he raised all that money in 2008 and how great it was that he was projected to raise over $1Bil this election cycle (and presumably be unstoppable).
Now that there is the potential for Romney to make it a level playing field or, gasp!, out raise Obama does it become Nixonian and a prelude to another Watergate.
To me, this is just another sign that Romney has a good chance in November.
Nov '10
Re: Campaign Faux Sense
I don't think we can take too much from this example. Elementary and high school elections are simple minded popularity contests that ultimately teach kids absolutely nothing about a republican democracy. It doesn't matter whether or not kids can discuss the issues, the result will always be that the kid who is perceived to be the most popular will win. In the real world, elections are different.
Oh, wait . . . uh, never mind.
Edited on June 20, 2012 at 6:48pm