Campaign Corruptings

Now that Fred Thompson's officially joined the Race for the Presidency, I hope the candidates finally start campaigning. It's almost like no one wants to be president. Come on, people! Make speeches! Debate! Raise money! Increase the rhetoric!

During a speech in which Fred got himself into some trouble by calling Osama bin Laden a symbolic figure more than anything else, he said something I thought was even crazier. He maintains that public support for the War in Iraq in on the rise. Well, I maintain that the only thing on the rise is his utter delusion. We've suffered nearly two full terms with a president living on his own planet. That's probably enough for now.

Meanwhile, I hear a lot of passion around this Ron Paul fellow. Granted, he's the only Republican candidate not joining in the Stephen Colbert debate "George W. Bush: Great President or the Greatest President?" But if Ron had any real chance of winning, I'd want to make sure that his supporters have a true understanding of where he stands on the issues. From what I can gather, he's running to eliminate government altogether. That worked pretty well in New Orleans.

Smarmy Mitt Romney is feeling the heat. Hollywood Fred can dress just as sharply as Mitt, and Mike Huckabee seems to be the candidate most likely to get Religious Right support. So Mitt's claiming that the only way they can be viable candidates is for them to raise $20 million this quarter.

More than any other election, popular support is being tied to money raised. Which is ludicrous. Four years ago, Howard Dean unexpectedly raised a boatload of cash in the primary through a groundswell of support from the "netroots." He proved that a shitload of passionate supporters can give $20 a pop and compete with corporations.

Short memories. Somehow, now, when candidates raise a lot of money, people assume it means popular support. Until the Deaniacs, it didn't mean anything of the kind. And yet this is unquestioned truth in today's race. Hillary, Rudy, Mitt, and Barack raise more money than God, they must have enormous "grassroots" support. Horse. Shit.

Hillary raised a shitload of money because she's exceptionally well-connected in DC fundraising circles. Mitt raised a shitload of money because he's an exceptionally rich man well-connected in rich circles. Rudy raised a shitload of money because he's an asshole who's done a remarkable job exploiting 9/11 for personal gain. Barack raised a shitload of money because... well, maybe -- just maybe -- he's got legitimate claim to passionate grassroots support.

And now Mitt publicly ties his few rich connections to popular support, in an attempt to derail the candidacies of Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee.

Why do I care? It's not so much that I like Fred Thompson or Mike Huckabee. I would never vote for either. It's just that linking more money than most of us can imagine to viable candidacies is inherently corrupt, and our political system is the lesser for it. Fuck you, Mitt.