They doubt politicians will ever do anything to change a system that keeps incumbents in office. And even if new regulations were passed, it has become hard to believe that they would work any better than the old regulations, which have failed spectacularly since their passage in the 1970s. The advantages of incumbency remain undiminished.
Campaigns are as nasty as ever.
The costs of campaigning continue to skyrocket. And politicians from presidents to mayors spend ever greater amounts of time begging money from rich individuals and groups with business before the government. But citizens shouldn't despair. The ingredients for real campaign finance reform are right at hand, concealed within a variety of reform proposals that have been floating around Capitol Hill. All we have to do is mix ingredients from two radically different proposals, one from the political left, one from the right.