Give Candidates Free Airtime

Q2 fundraising results around the corner, and the results will be...way more important than they should be. The Democrats may be trumping the Republicans in cash flow, but what does that really mean? Let me state that I fully understand the need for funding to run a campaign. It takes cash to retain top people, build websites, manage volunteers, etc.

But a huge amount of campaign cash goes to one place.

Television. It's a battle for sound bite supremacy. And it's time we took it out of the equation, for everyone's sake.

The demand for campaign (read: advertising) cash has reached ludicrous levels. Ad buying accounts for more than half of campaign expenditures in competitive races, according to OpenSecrets.org. Let's review a few reasons why free airtime might actually benefit the politicians, and more importantly the public.

First, candidates that are constantly on the campaign trail raising money are doing less of what's important: running the country. I can see why some would argue that's a good thing, but cynicism aside, maybe if they stayed in Washington we might see some forward progress on important issues.

Second, it is impossible to explain an issue in 30 seconds, so TV ads are often nothing more than poorly constructed metaphors (remember this garbage?), glossy sound bites, and plain old attacks. (My theory being, free airtime would coincide with a new limit on the number of commercials a campaign could purchase).

Third, the demand for insane amounts of cash plays directly into the hands of big interest groups, lobbyists, and major corporations. Anything that helps to break those ties is OK in my book.

The influence of TV advertising is diminishing, what with YouTube and the rest of the netroots operations. Still, it's time for some serious reform with regards to campaign advertising.