I'm here to present a new take on the supposed "scourge" of money in politics: There's nothing wrong with it. It doesn't matter that 158 families contribute half of all total campaign contributions, or that the Kochs will spend a billion dollars. It doesn't matter that the so-called "invisible primary", where primary candidates jockey behind the scenes for important endorsements and pledges of support from key leaders, has been replaced by a "billionaires' primary" where these same candidates must win the affection of a particular billionaire.
Why doesn't it matter? Because billionaires deserve a voice, of course! And it's clear that money doesn't influence politicians. It's not some gateway into their hearts. Deep down, the politicians hold to their convictions, and do not change their minds based on campaign contributions.
Join me below the squiggly orange dollar sign for more musings on money in politics.
Let's say a politician spends all of his time jetting around to $2700/plate fundraisers from wealthy millionaires and billionaires. While there, said politician gives a short speech, collects the donations, and hightails it to the next fundraiser.
What does this politician say to the audience? Of course, your tailor-made speech will reflect the audience in question. When you're campaigning in Arizona, you write a speech that emphasizes immigration reform. When you're campaigning in South Carolina, you give a speech on racial justice. When you're speaking at Liberty University, you sprinkle your speech with exhortations to follow Jesus's calls for justice. Similar things happen at high-dollar fundraisers: You may claim to be a moderate. You may call Glass-Steagal outdated and obsolete. You may point to your record as being friendly to people like them, people with money and power and influence.
But it's all a lie.
We all know that fundraising speeches, speeches to the wealthy millionaires who can donate $2700 without batting an eyelash, are lies. It's what you say publicly that matters. People who go behind closed doors to solicit funds are lying through their teeth. They lie because politics, at its core, is about you. Your issues are what matter. For a black person, issues pertinent to the black community matter most to you, and it's what you vote on. For a blue collar worker, issues related to blue collar work matter most to you, and you vote on that too. A rich person is no different: Things that matter to rich people, like collecting even more money and not having to pay any back to the people through taxes, are what you care about, and you fete the one who promises you these things.
But again, a politician is not beholden to his donors. A politician collects the money and leaves, promising new things to new rich people, but in their heart of hearts, the politician will always do what they know is right. They will never put their donors' interests over the interests of the black man in South Carolina, or the single mom in New Hampshire, or the person working a manufacturing job who just got laid off because their job was outsourced overseas.
And why would they? Promises only matter when they're made in public. Donors will always be there; next cycle, as the politician inevitably breaks his promise and runs for reelection, those donors will certainly be there. Because the voting public have long memories, but the donor class will never remember whether you helped them out when it came time to pass actual legislation.
I, for one, am glad we have politicians who understand that big money in politics does not inherently corrupt you, and that they will do everything they can to fleece rich donors like the fools they are.