Those ambitious for public office must panhandle for private dollars unless we make public funds the cornerstone of financing campaigns and sharply limit the amounts that individual citizens and institutions can contribute and candidates can spend. But such a system can be put in place only if the Supreme Court backs off Buckley. The brief for doing so is persuasive. Raising private money has become the essential qualification for getting nominated and elected to office. Indeed, the brutal demands of political fund-raising deter many qualified candidates of both parties from even getting involved.
Most senators spend a third of their six-year term raising money.
President Clinton apparently spends about a quarter of his time schmoozing with big contributors and raising funds. The Republican congressional leadership offers private briefings and weekends with key committee chairs for big contributors. Air Force One. Big bucks buy access to politicians, and access is the power to make your case alone and in person to members of Congress and the executive branch, whose laws and regulations can send even bigger bucks your way. The obligation of private interests is to protect their private interests.