Campaign Finance

Ever since "authenticity" became the quality we most value in our politicians, its converse, "hypocrisy," has been the political vice of which we are most conscious. Thus, those who have noticed that Sen. John McCain enjoys a reputation as a "maverick" who "stands up to special interests" while leading a campaign that is operated and funded entirely by lobbyists have seen this as a contradiction. Is McCain a hypocrite, or perhaps a divided soul, with the angelic maverick voice of… more

Which detergent do you use?  Procter & Gamble spent $3.3 billion on media in 2006 to get customers to buy its products. Which beer will you opt for at the end of a long day's work? Beer marketers spent $1.2 billion during that same year to influence your choice. Who will you pick to be your next president? That's another costly decision: The two major parties are expected to blow a combined $1 billion during this election cycle in their… more

While the United States and Europe share much in common, they also exhibit basic differences, an "American Way" and a "European Way," that are diverging and had been leading to frequent clashes even before the U.N. rift over Iraq. In a globalized capitalist world, where all nations are seeking models of development that allow "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for its people, this clash within the West is every bit as elemental as the clash with Arab-Islam because… more

Senior Fellow Mark Schmitt talks with National Public Radio about his blogging on TPMCafe.com, while attending the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago:

LYDEN: And you -- looking to have an impact here on the campaign?

Mr. SCHMITT: I'm not looking to have too much of an impact on the campaign. I'm more interested in how different issues are playing out in the campaign. So I, you know, if I'll write about tax policy, I'll comment on how I think… more

If a leading American presidential candidate -- and her husband, an ex-president -- seem to have unnaturally close connections to foreign companies interested in draining away American jobs, should that be of interest to Americans?

Some, including campaign rival Barack Obama, say yes, this should be a big story. But the mainstream media seem to say no. Why this media lack of interest?

For the past six years -- since Bill Clinton left the White House, since Hillary Clinton entered the U.S.… more

Power in America is shifting from George W. Bush’s Sun Belt mafia -- with its roots in post-1950s aerospace, energy and development -- to a new political triad: a handover of control from one oligarchy to another.

This new triad draws its power from three key postindustrial power centers: technology, entertainment and finance. Its geographic orientation is different as well. Rather than having its primary bases in boomtowns like Houston, Dallas, Charlotte or Phoenix, the new elite clusters mostly in the… more

Ten years ago, the United States held its first billion-dollar election -- that was roughly the amount spent by all candidates for Congress and the presidency put together. The same year brought the first large-scale campaign finance scandal since Watergate, best remembered for the almost accurate metaphor of President Bill Clinton selling overnights in the Lincoln Bedroom in exchange for large contributions to the Democratic Party. And both took place at a time when Americans were deeply disconnected from politics;… more

"The billion-dollar election." Get used to that phrase, because you’ll be hearing it a lot over the next year and a half. That’s the total that all candidates for the presidency are expected to spend on their campaigns between now and 2008. It’s a staggering figure that critics will surely cite as evidence that money has thoroughly corrupted politics. Newt Gingrich shocked the bluenoses back in 1996, when he said that there was too little money in politics, not too… more

On the eve of the Congressional elections, a report has surfaced that reinforces the close ties between members of the student-loan industry and Republican leaders.

Now that polls show that Democrats have a good chance of gaining control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, many lenders fear they will pay for tying their fortunes so closely to the Republican Party.

According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, no company has donated more money this year to… more

One of the most discussed political reforms over the last 30 years has been campaign finance reform. That reform effort blames much of what ails our representative democracy on the pernicious effect of private money in politics. In the 1990s, tales of the Keating Five, Lincoln Bedroom, and Buddhist temples became the stuff of political legend. More recently, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was accused of campaign and money laundering violations and lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty to influence peddling… more