The latest effort by “reform” organizations to flack for a bill to provide congressional candidates campaign welfare: a joint press release by Common Cause and Public Campaign blasting Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid for allegedly requesting to delay weekend votes to attend a fundraiser.
From the release:
“That the leader of the US Senate would even consider delaying Senate proceedings and negotiations on an issue as important as health care reform, reportedly to attend a fundraiser, speaks volumes of the constant pressure that members of Congress are under to raise money for themselves, their colleagues and their political party,” said Bob Edgar, president and CEO Common Cause. “We need a Congress that is immune to the pressures of fundraising and that serves the public interest. It’s time to pass the Fair Elections Now Act.”
This latest potshot seems to be part of the “reform” community playbook reported recently by Mother Jones: “Our campaign’s communications operation must be prepared to respond to scandals, whether they involve legal or illegal activity, to drive coverage of the need for [campaign finance reform] legislation,” reads the “confidential internal memo” from Common Cause and Public Campaign.
Of course, there’s a much easier fix to reducing the time members of Congress spend raising money: raise or eliminate contribution limits, which favor incumbents with established fundraising networks over challengers who often need seed money to spread their message to potential constituents.
With a grand total of six U.S. Senators sponsoring FENA, attacking the most powerful Democrat in the upper chamber by piggybacking on GOP talking points may not be the most brilliant legislative strategy, but I guess we’ll see…
