Before I go on, let me add a little perspective. While my experiences were with the Democratic Party, exactly the same environment existed on the Republican side.
Now then, where was I? Oh, yes, I wrote the check for Barack Obama. I didn't have access to Senator Obama during the campaign. I've never met him. But I did get invited to even more functions that provided access to political figures. I was also able to attend the convention in Colorado in August, which was, by the way, great fun. Unlike the 2000 convention, I was now a "guest" of the Democratic National Committee and that meant that Elaine and I got invited to much better receptions and we had premium seats to big convention events, such as Senator Obama's acceptance speech. Because I had spread money across a number of candidates and organizations, I was invited to their receptions too. During the campaign I did my best to encourage my friends and acquaintances to give whatever they could afford. I know some gave and I felt good about that.
So I was a Fat Cat and basked in that status. Only I wasn't. I was just an Itty-Bitty-Kitty. The Fat Cats collected and bundled maxed out contributions from whole bunches of IBK's like me, so they were turning over millions of dollars to campaigns. The George W Bush campaign called them "Pioneers." They have existed for a long time, named or unnamed. These bundlers tend to target donors. Some go for folks like me who are philosophically committed, but most go for affinity groups like oil donors, banking donors, labor donors, retail industry donors, etc. Bundlers have agendas driven by their donors, many of whom are lobbyists or employ lobbyists. Do you think my piddling $90k matters compared to bundlers and their lobbyists who have brought in millions? It does not.
Money has always been the key driver of political life here. When the revered "founding fathers," wrote "We the people of the United States..." What they meant was "We the rich, white, male people of the United States." The whole system was created to sustain that advantage. There have been changes, but I think we can agree that the rich, white male is still in pretty good shape in the modern political life of our country. One of the big issues of the 2012 election cycle is the distribution of wealth. Both the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movements focus on the fairness of wealth distribution and the role it plays in our civic life. They come at it from opposite directions, but they end up in the same place: It's not fair that big money sets the agenda and the people are powerless to change it. The 2010 Citizens United decision has highlighted the increased flood of money into the system that further minimizes the power of the public.
All of a sudden both parties are citing fairness as a motivation for their proposals. Why? It comes back to Albert Briggs. "The only truth in politics is reelection." They get it and they will do and say whatever has to done and said to convince voters that what they believe is "fair." When they get reelected or elected, but mostly reelected, they will do whatever they can to advance the various agendas of the bundlers whose dollars give them the resources to get reelected.
Does that mean we shouldn't vote? Quite the contrary. The one time that every individual voter has all the power is when she/he walks into that voting booth. In order to use that power wisely, we have to read everything we can. We have to look at each candidate's positions and determine, or try to determine, who's interests will be advanced or disadvantaged by those positions. While I support attempts to get money out of politics, I am too realistic, some might say cynical, to believe that it will ever happen if only because those who have to make it happen are the very people who benefit from it. Still, I am a firm believer in the United States of America. I can't give tens of thousands of dollars anymore, but I will contribute to those candidates for who I will, or would, cast my vote because their positions more or less coincide with mine. Will they disappoint me if successful? Yes, in some areas, but there is no such thing as a perfect candidate.
So as the 2012 cycle proceeds, remember Albert Briggs. I certainly will.
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