A young Texas congressman named Lyndon Johnson began his political ascent in the early 1940s when he doled out campaign cash to fellow Democrats from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Joe Kennedy's personal fortune helped purchase the White House for his son Jack in 1960. Campaign finance laws were tightened significantly in 1974, a reaction to the excesses of the Watergate era and the sloppy and corrupting ways the Nixon re-election committee raised its money. But in the 25 years since, all campaign limits and restraints have been shattered, argues Washington journalist Elizabeth Drew. Both parties have since refused to embrace campaign reform legislation.
Money now rivals or even exceeds power as the pre-eminent goal.
It has led good people to do things that are morally questionable, if not reprehensible. Many voters feel politicians make decisions on the basis of campaign contributions from wealthy donors who stand to make millions from government decisions, rather than on what citizens want or on merits of an issue. But despite occasional demands for reform, a corrupt and exposed system sits unchanged, thanks to congressional leaders of both parties, but especially to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas. The book recounts in great detail how these men have derailed all efforts at reform. Drew, a prolific writer and author of political books, including two already about the Clinton administration and one on how the Republicans kept their congressional majority in 1996, is not the first to visit these troubled waters.