At an event at the Eagleton Institute in New Jersey this past Friday, representatives and advocates of taxpayer financed elections in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut gathered to discuss the details of their programs and their plans for the future.
The broad generalizations, sweeping disregard for individual First Amendment rights and refusal to recognize any failures in these programs weren’t surprising in the least. However, several comments went so above and beyond that they bear repeating.
For example, one representative from New Jersey stated unequivocally that their gubernatorial program was a success in limiting influence and "purifying" elections, no doubt the reason New Jersey is the pinnacle of ethics and virtue today.
Another panelist went even further, noting that the problem with these programs is that lobbyists continue to exist even after Election Day. Apparently, legislators in New Jersey need protection from lobbyists (AKA representatives of citizens) after they’re elected, lest they be unable to distinguish between policy positions they agree with and ones they disagree with.
The public financing advocate speaking on New York City’s matching program was almost embarrassed to state certain obvious facts in such company. In mentioning that their program of matching funds rather than full public financing is slightly more feasible in difficult budgetary times, and that perhaps the only way many citizens can participate in elections is through campaign contributions, she made sure to sidenote apologetically that she was certain those points would be "controversial" in that crowd.
The self-aggrandizing part of the day really began in earnest with the representatives from Connecticut’s public financing program continually noting how thrilled they were to be such a part of history and giving a detailed timeline of all the difficulties they had implementing their truly historic program. They also represented the most lack of self-awareness of the day (an achievement to be sure) when noting how thrilled they were that lobbyists from "good government" groups were able to participate in drafting the legislation that…bans lobbyists from contributing to campaigns.
The last presentation from a representative from Common Cause who spoke on the recently introduced Fair Elections Now Act really summed up the tone of the day. He completely abdicated law breaking individuals from any personal responsibility because they are simply "good people in a bad system." He assured the crowd that if federal public financing passes, the public will no longer have any need to question the integrity of their elected officials. He noted that his group thinks this legislation is so paramount that they have their lobbyists working on its passage…because politics makes "strange bedfellows," but apparently not hypocrites.