Interview with David Donnelly: Clean Elections "Architect" will Keynote in Seattle
Al Gore writes in his new book, The Assault on Reason, that US entry into Iraq was not adequately debated in advance. We critically needed legislators to examine the evidence on Iraq. But the Senate floor was "silent" while legislators were elsewhere, fundraising for their next campaigns. (1) James Hansen, Director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, referring to political interference in science, said in recent testimony to Congress that "the most fundamental government reform that could be taken to address climate change" is campaign finance reform. (2)
These days, the good news about campaign finance might also be the bad news -- things are so out of control that we're simply getting fed up. Even the big-time funders are beginning to "cry uncle". (3) And, according to David Donnelly, Public Campaign Action Fund's National Campaigns Director, legislators are much more likely now to see that we have a problem than they have been at any time in the past decade. Donnelly, who began working on campaign finance reform in the mid-1990s and who is credited as the "architect" of Maine's successful public financing system, will be the keynote speaker at Washington Public Campaign's First Annual Awards Banquet on Friday, June 15. He and I spoke by phone last week. The interview appears below**. Photo of David Donnelly courtesy Public Campaign.
Noemie David Donnelly
Olympia Snowe is a moderate Republican and she was doing a good job representing the state. The problem was not that she was elected but that there was a big difference between the candidates, that there was a real choice for voters to make, and that there was no way to get this message to them because the funding was so lopsided. Tom Andrews was an organizer, a very solid progressive populist who really connected with people. He would have been a great person to serve alongside Paul Wellstone. But he was forced to play a game that took him away from his strengths.
This is a system that narrows the field, that reduces voters' choices. We have significant issues we're dealing with as Americans. We need to be encouraging the best and the brightest to run, not just the best and brightest fundraisers. The first question for any candidate shouldn't be "how much money can you raise?" There are already so many barriers to serving in elective office, we don't need this one.
Noemie
David Donnelly
Noemie
David Donnelly
Public financing doesn't make it easy. To qualify to run under public financing, candidates need to get small donations from a minimum number of donors within a limited time. In drafting the laws, legislators decide how high the barriers should be, how many donations a candidate should be required to get in order to win that primary.
Noemie
David Donnelly
The single biggest change I've seen in how legislators see public financing - something I haven't seen until recently since I began a dozen years ago, is that legislators are now talking more about the amount of time they have to spend raising money. This system robs them of the time they would otherwise spend doing their jobs. Three years out from an election, here you'll have a legislator sitting in a small room for three or four hours at a time, making calls.
Noemie
David Donnelly
More than anything, elected officials "get" that this is completely unsustainable, the way campaign costs have gone up,
Noemie
David Donnelly
Noemie
David Donnelly
There are some organizations that have figured out how to get candidates elected in the current system. They're a little bit upset about new rules and may see them as barriers - instead of embracing them. Other organizations realize that, with public financing, they can recruit candidates from non-traditional backgrounds. It's an additional way to run for office, without having to spend all that time raising money.
If you choose public funding, you're not flying without a safety net. There are fair fight funds, which give a candidate up to two or three times, additional public financing if they're targeted by an influx of money for their opponent. Even beyond the safety net level of funds, anyone who does fundraising understands that it costs money to raise money. And from a political standpoint, it's an advantage for a candidate to own this issue of reform. Our national survey work show that candidates who take a good position on reform get almost a 15-20% shift in support (4). This support comes almost entirely from independents. So it's not just the progressive wing that's disgusted with "politics as usual."
Noemie
Do you have any observations on what's been learned from Massachussetts Voters for Clean Elections -and what's happened in Maine and Arizona - that might help us Washington State?
David Donnelly
The Speaker ran out the clock without funding public campaigns. The Republican Party and the Green Party and other plaintiffs sued the state. And they won. The Massachusetts Supreme Court found the legislature to be in violation of the state's Constitution. But, even under that judgment, the legislature wouldn't budge. They sat on their hands and they decided to be in violation of a court order. This was an extreme case of political intractability.
I learned from this that, as long as public financing is a perceived threat to overturning the current political order, you're going to need to convince at least part of the political establishment that the system will be better for them.
In Massachusetts, we ran up against leadership that didn't see public financing as an opportunity, but as a threat. Early work with lawmakers can be critical. Maine was a different story. Legislators there saw public financing as a potential tool for recruiting candidates. In the first year of implementation, the Republican Senate caucus was able to recruit a candidate for every primary race.
Noemie
David Donnelly
Noemie
David Donnelly
NOTES **No tape was made of this interview; this account is a reconstruction from my notes, not an exact transcript.
Interview with David Donnelly: Clean Elections "Architect" will Keynote in Seattle | 4 comments (4 topical)
Interview with David Donnelly: Clean Elections "Architect" will Keynote in Seattle | 4 comments (4 topical)
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By WA Spirit Matters (2 comments) Related Links+ legislator s were elsewhere, fundraising for their next campaigns+ said in recent testimony to Congress + Even the big-time funders + Public Campaign Action Fund's + First Annual Awards Banquet + Public Campaign + recently read + conference + event held by Washington Public Campaigns + we've had a success + Thomas + recently wrote + almost a 15-20% shift in support + Awards Banquet + Book Excerpt: The Assault on Reason, by Al Gore + Testimony of James E. Hansen + Our View: Even big-time political donors know it's time for more finance reform. + More on Campaign Finance + Also by noemie maxwell Washblog RSS FeedsPolitical ContactsLocal MediaCoastal/Grays HarborAberdeen Daily World Chinook Observer Montesano Vidette Pacific County Press Willapa Harbor Herald KXRO 1320 AM Olympic Peninsula Peninsula Daily News Bremerton Sun Bremerton Chronicle Gig Harbor Gateway Port Orchard Independent Port Townsend Leader North Kitsap Herald Squim Gazette Central Kitsap Reporter Business Examiner KONP 1450 AM Sound and Islands Anacortes American Bainbridge Review Voice Of Bainbridge San Juan Journal The Islands' Sounder Whidbey NewsTimes South Whidbey Record Stanwood/Camano News Vashon Beachcomber Voice Of Vashon KLKI 1340 AM North Puget Sound Bellingham Herald The Northern Light Everett Herald Skagit Valley Herald Lynden Tribune The Enterprise Snohomish County Tribune Snohomish County Business Journal The Monroe Monitor The Edmonds Beacon KGMI 790 AM KELA 1470 AM KRKO 1380 AM Central Puget Sound King County Journal Issaquah Press Mukilteo Beacon Voice of the Valley Federal Way Mirror Bothell/Kenmore Reporter Kirkland courier Mercer Island Reporter Woodinville Weekly Greater Seattle Seattle PI Seattle Times KOMO TV 4 KIRO TV 7 KING 5 TV KTBW TV 22 KCTS 9 UW Daily The Stranger Seattle Weekly Capitol Hill Times Madison Park Times Seattle Journal of Commerce NW Asian Weekly West Seattle Herald North Seattle Herald-Outlook South Seattle Star Magnolia News Beacon Hill News KIRO 710 AM KOMO AM 1000 KEXP 90.3 FM KUOW 94.9 FM KVI 570 AM South Puget Sound The Columbian Longview Daily News Nisqually Valley News Lewis County News The Reflector Eatonville Dispatch Tacoma News Tribune Tacoma Weekly Puyallup Herald Enumclaw Courier-Herald The Olympian KAOS 89.3 FM KCPQ 13 KOWA FM 106.5 UPN 11 Cascade/Okanogan Ellensburg Daily Record Levenworth Echo Cle Elum Tribune Snoqualmie Valley Record Methow Valley News Lake Chelan Mirror Omak chronicle The Newport Miner Spokane/Palouse The Spokesman-Review KREM 2 TV Spokane KXLY News 4 Spokane KHQ 6 Spokane KSPS Spokane Statesman-Examiner Othello Outlook Cheney Free Press Camas PostRecord The South County sun White Salmon Enterprise Palouse Boomerang Columbia Basin Herald Grand Coulee Star Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Yakima Herald-Republic KIMA 29 Yakima KAPP TV 35 Yakima KYVE Yakima Wenatchee World Tri-City Herald TVEW TV 42 Tri-cities KTNW Richland KEPR 19 Pasco Daily Sun News Prosser Record-Bulletin KTCR 1340 AM KWSU Pullman Moscow-Pullman Daily News |