Common sense legislation requiring background checks for purchases at gun shows has been stymied in Congress. And in the past they've fought successfully to reduce the powers of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission. The alcohol lobby helped block ads designed to curb underage drinking. And just this week Congress is revisiting the issue of a nationwide .08 blood alcohol content level to set the drunk driving standard. We all know that the only reason we don't have common sense tobacco laws in this country is because of the power of the industry.
Money follows power.
And with Big Tobacco, we've seen a tremendous shift in the balance of their donations from Republicans to Democrats. In the early 90s, Democrats were either even or slightly ahead of Republicans in terms of tobacco PAC money. Since 1995, Republicans have far out raised Democrats in this area and, encouragingly enough, many Members of Congress have just stopped taking tobacco PAC money in particular and PAC money generally. I believe what John McCain told us during his presidential campaign - that there are a lot of good people trapped in a very bad campaign finance system. As a former elected official myself I know something about raising money in this system, and the benefits of, and the need for, reform.