Choice In Campaigning

By Mike Kirchubel

A few days ago, Proposition 89, the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act qualified for the November state ballot. This proposition gives candidates a choice in financing their campaigns: Either do what they do now, which is solicit large donations from wealthy individuals and corporations, or collect only small donations and receive public financing. This proposition gives us voters a choice, too. We will be able to vote for the usual, pay to play politician or for a clean money representative able to vote his own conscience.

The Clean Money and Fair Elections Act is no less than a Declaration of Independence from our monarchy of money and our version of taxation without representation. It returns democracy to the voters who will have a clear choice on Election Day. We will be able to vote for candidates who either spend their time begging for campaign money from those who demand expensive favors in return or for those candidates who do not.

The Clean Money and Fair Elections Act is a dividing line issue pitting the extremely rich, who want to keep politicians dependent upon their big money donations and the rest of us who want our representatives free from their control.

Corporations will invest tens of millions of dollars to kill clean money because it makes good business sense; they are reaping billions in favors - at our expense - with pay to play. Clean money is simply about having a choice on Election Day. We Californians deserve nothing less.

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