Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA) in support of Russ Feingold's (D. WI) U.S. Senate campaign:
A full year before my Senate election, Karl Rove's super PAC ran an attack ad against me. It was dark and scary and made it look like a puffy-faced zombie was running loose in Massachusetts. (At least, that's how I remember it.)
Citizens United had opened up the floodgates for third-party spending. There was no legal way to stop them. But in January 2012, Scott Brown and I did something pretty remarkable: We signed the People's Pledge to keep third-party, special interest ads off the air.
Now Russ Feingold has called for a Wisconsin version of the People's Pledge -- the "Badger Pledge" -- to help keep special interest money out of the 2016 Wisconsin Senate race.
Please join us in urging Senator Ron Johnson to sign the Badger Pledge.
http://www.russfeingold.com/...
Here's how it worked: Scott Brown and I agreed that if a third-party group spent money on TV, radio, or online ads supporting a candidate, that candidate would have to dip into their own campaign funds to donate to charity 50% of the cost of the ad.
I'll admit, I was skeptical that this would work. No one could force either side to go along with it. But the proof was in the results.
Tammy Baldwin and I were running in the same year -- 2012. In her Wisconsin Senate race, third-party groups spent more than $43 million -- 64% of all spending in the race. But in Massachusetts, third-party groups made up only 9% of total spending -- and much of it was spent before we signed the pledge.
Removing the third-party TV ads also held both candidates accountable for what we said. It changed the whole tone of the debate. If Scott Brown wanted to attack me -- or if I wanted to point out the problems with Scott Brown's voting record -- we had to put our names on it and say: "I approve this message." 90% of all the TV ads in Wisconsin's 2012 Senate race were negative, compared with only 36% in Massachusetts.
In other words, the pledge helped pull our election back in the right direction -- not all the way, but some. It helped the people of Massachusetts make up their minds about who to vote for based on what Scott Brown and I said, about our different visions for the state and country, without the powerful interests calling all the shots.
The People's Pledge worked in Massachusetts in 2012 -- and I hope it will work in Wisconsin in 2016. Please urge Senator Ron Johnson to sign the Badger Pledge with Russ Feingold now.
http://www.russfeingold.com/...
Thank you for being a part of this,
Elizabeth Warren
U.S. Senator, MA
Click here to add your name:
http://www.russfeingold.com/...