What would you think if I had devoted my entire adult life to improving my skills as an artist, eschewing all other worldly matters, and then, after unexpectedly coming into a great deal of money, I mean a HUGE amount of money, I said "Screw this art stuff!" and chose instead to run for senator of my state. Would you vote for me?
You might. Know why? Because I would have the financial wherewithal to catapult my propaganda.
Know what else? I'd make a crappy legislator if elected because all I'd know about is bristol board and kneaded erasers, and the public would suffer as a result of my vast accumulation of ignorance.
It sounds ridiculous but the tragic thing is that I more or less just described the political life of Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) who, after leaving the military, spent almost 25 years, and becoming very weatlthy, in the car alarm business. That's part of the reason how, in 1998, he could afford to run for U.S. Senator of California, a campaign in which he spent $10 million dollars of his own money. Must be nice.
He lost, to Barbara Boxer, but ran again in 2000 for the U.S. House of Representatives of California, and won. There's not much record of how much he spent that year but there's little doubt that spend he did.
So what does a career in the car alarm business do to prepare a person for public office? Evidently not much. Issa, who is currently THE richest man in Congress (Net worth $350 million dollars, up 152% over last year.) has spent a great deal of tax-paid time tilting at the U.S. Post Office windmill, a Constitutionally mandated entity, trying his best to destroy it. But who needs the Constitution when your friends at FedEx and UPS would make a ton of money if they were the only delivery game in town?
I think it's pretty clear we need to place a lot more emphasis on a candidate's record as a public servant before we troop down to the ballot box. It's painful to say this, as there are many good Democratic legislators who are part of the Millionaire's Club, but we need to put the Congress back in the hands of elected officials who resemble the 99%, not the 1%. It may sound simplistic but we have to start somewhere because what we got ain't working. So come November choose the guy with the smallest campaign bankroll because he's certainly the one the monied don't want to see elected.