Not the Olympics, although the flame of the Sydney Olympiad is just now dimming to its final embers. This edition promises to be an exciting one, with no incumbent and every indication that the decision will be in doubt right up to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. But, the presidential theater is probably too big for us to be able to move the actors upstage or down. On the other hand, the other place government space policy is made is in the Congress, and there, we might just be able to tilt the playing field, if we learn to play the game of practical politics. And that game isn't what it initially appears.
Money buys access.
Access provides an opportunity to not only be heard, but listened to, because politicians have learned that if they don't listen to people who show them the money, there'll be no money the next time they need it, in two, or four, or six years. If we want to be listened to by the people who decide what gets on the congressional calendar, then we need to show them the money. Now for those of you who haven't been paying attention, these days there are two kinds of money. First there's hard money. This is money given directly to a candidate's campaign for its use in an election.