Posts tagged Democrats
Holding Politicians Accountable
The more money you’re responsible for putting into a candidate’s coffer, the more likely that you’ll get an audience.
Huffington Post reports on the fundraising expectations of new Democratic members, including their “call time” when they are dialing for dollars:
The daily schedule prescribed by the Democratic leadership contemplates a nine or 10-hour day while in Washington. Of that, four hours is to be spent in “call time” and another hour is blocked off for “strategic outreach,” which includes fundraisers and press work. An hour is walled off to “recharge,” and three to four hours are designated for the actual work of being a member of Congress – hearings, votes, and meetings with constituents. If the constituents are donors, all the better. The presentation assured members that their fundraising would be closely monitored; the Federal Elections Commission requires members to file quarterly reports.
While it’s admirable to pledge to refuse corporate donations, when push came to shove and the Democrats had to choose between their pledge or cutting back on the excessive extravagance of modern-day conventions, they chose extravagance.
At this stage, there are probably two kinds of winning politics, short-term and long-term, for the Democrats. In the short term, the winning politics is to bemoan the other side’s money and try to get your own donors to end their handwringing about super PACs long enough to write a check. The long-term winning strategy for Democrats – or for the GOP if they wanted to play it – is to go all in on a strategy to deliver for Americans what they want — control over politics again.
Democrats won’t disclose donors to Charlotte convention until after the event
“Democratic Party officials say they will not release the names of donors to next month’s political convention before the event, despite an earlier pledge that they would regularly disclose the contributors.”