(click on the title of this post to see the article I am referencing)
This is too much. Ever since the Citizens United ruling, Democrats have been wringing their hands and wailing to high heaven about how special interest campaign spending will be their undoing. They are David to Corporate America’s multi-billion dollar Goliath. It is worth remembering that there are plenty of entrenched, well-funded interests in the Democratic Party. Although they have had to work to compete, they are still getting their ads on the air.
The true David-as is always the case-is independent candidates. There has been plenty of ink spilled about how the internet and Obama’s small donation fundraising model have led us into a new era of a more level playing field. The special interest money flooding into elections is toxic, not to Democrats who have longstanding relationships with wealthy patrons, but to Independents who lack that political infrastructure.
The obvious retort is, “Well, what about the Tea Party.” It is important to note here that on a macro level, in spite of the high profile success stories, the rate of success for Tea Party candidates trying to unseat Republican incumbents has been poor. In every case, the disparity in the relative size of each campaign’s war chest proved to be the stumbling block for these would-be insurgents. There are of course success stories, and we should look to them for guidance. On the whole, though, there is cause for concern.
Point being: Democrats aren’t David. Independents are. The challenge going forward will be to figure out how to overcome these obstacles.
