Santa Clara County Democratic Party
position statement on public financing of campaigns
Submitted by Herb Engstrom, 22nd AD
Approved May 4, 2000Money has always played a role in American politics, but in the 1990's big money has become the primary currency of democracy. Before the public ever cast their ballots, wealthy campaign contributors vote with their wallets, effectively deciding which candidates will have the resources to run serious campaigns. Nearly all candidates for office (except rich ones) are dependent on this funding. As a result, well-heeled special interests shape public policy and determine limits of political debate.
This issue should matter to everyone who wants to revitalize democracy and ensure that the views of average Americans and grassroots organizations have a more equal footing in public debate. Community organizations, constituency groups, and issue advocates will never be able to raise as much money as groups representing wealthy special interests and the status quo. For example, in the 1995-96 election cycle, corporations, groups and individuals representing business interests outspent labor by 11-to-1. Individuals and political action committees representing the natural resource industries (such as gas and oil companies) outspent environmental interests by an estimated 27-to-1 in contributions to congressional candidates. Political contributions representing finance, insurance and real estate interests were in excess of $130 million for the 95-96 election cycle. Of all the economically-interested money given to Congressional candidates, almost none represented the millions of Americans who are poor, or parents of public school children, or victimized by toxic dumping or agri-chemical contamination, or who are small banking depositors and borrowers, or people dependent on public libraries, transportation, hospitals and housing.
That is why reformers and public interest advocates of all stripes must come together on behalf of Clean Money Campaign Reform (CMCR) as exemplified by the Senate Kerry-Wellstone bill. It is time to break the link between special interest contributors and our elected officials.
Clean Money Campaign Reform offers a new approach to financing elections by providing candidates an alternative to soliciting special interests or spending personal funds to run for public office. Under CMCR, candidates who voluntarily reject private money and limit their spending receive a fixed and equal amount of campaign funding from a publicly financed fund.
Voters are angry about the existing campaign finance system and want to see it completely overhauled. They believe that campaigns have become too expensive, special interests have too much influence, candidates spend too much time chasing money, good people who lack money or connections don't have a fair chance to compete for office, and there are too many loopholes for big money to slip through.
Clean Money Campaign Reform directly addresses each of these concerns by limiting campaign spending, eliminating special interest contributions, stopping the money chase, leveling the financial playing field, and closing loopholes. Clean Money Campaign Reform can also pass constitutional muster. As a voluntary system, it fully complies with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on campaign finance.
CMCR enjoys broad public support. In national polling, 68 percent of voters favored a CMCR approach to reform. This is true among all sectors of the public and across the political spectrum. Indeed, support for such a change is at its highest point since Watergate. Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Arizona have already enacted Clean Money Campaign Reform and other states are poised to follow.
By creating an alternative source of "clean money" that is not tied to special interests, CMCR would supplant the current system that makes access to private wealth the key determinant of a person or organization's ability to influence the political arena. Instead of having to solicit from wealthy contributors, potential Clean Money candidates would have to collect a predetermined number of small donations from the public to demonstrate real constituent support. And once they receive their Clean Money financing, they would not be raising or spending any private money whatsoever. As a result, grassroots candidates and electoral coalitions would finally be able to compete on an equal footing on the basis of program, ideas, party affiliation and leadership ability, not money.
By placing a premium on organizing rather than fundraising, CMCR would shift the priorities of electoral work back towards those that ought to matter most in a representative democracy: issue development and advocacy, canvassing, voter education, and get-out-the-vote drives. Once elected, office-holders would be free to spend their time attending to their constituents' concerns. Clean Money Campaign Reform thus creates a political arena where public policies can be debated more fairly and democratically, which would have a positive effect on legislators' ability to develop and pass legislation that is in the public interest.
Therefore, the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee declares that it supports public financing of elections and other measures contained in Clean Money Campaign Reform as long as these measures do not hinder the local, state or national Democratic Party from fulfilling its purposes and functions. In addition, we call upon our legislators and candidates running for office to support public financing of elections and to initiate such legislation when appropriate.