FREE THOUGHTS

OPINIONS WE
COULDN'T KEEP
TO OURSELVES




Letter to the Democrats
Mike Layton of Olympia recently got a letter from the Washington State Democrats asking for a financial contribution. Here is his reply.


I'm going to send a check to you, but first I want you to know why it's not yet in the mail. Frankly, your letter didn't fire me up. In fact, your three-page plea looked like the same old pitch. And that's too bad, because the danger is greater than at any time since I've been watching politics.

You may consider me an alarmist. Come on now, you say, even Newt Gingrich and Randy Tate can't be that bad. But they are that bad. They'd like a 1920s Dixon, Illinois type United States where the "respectables" made the decisions and everyone else kept quiet. A free market ruled and poor-farms took care of the unfortunate.
But my purpose is not to heap abuse on Republicans. They're doing what Republicans naturally do. It's you Democrats who worry me.
As a reporter, I once spent several weeks with Tom Foley, covering one of his campaigns. I've never met a more decent man, and yet I blame Tom Foley more than Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, or any other politician for the malaise afflicting this country now. Had Foley tried, he could have forced through a sweeping reform of our system of financing election campaigns.
Bloated politicians would have shed tears of blood. He held the reins, but he kept them slack, and the sleazeballs in Congress, of both parties, went on their merry way.
Instead, Linda Smith, twice as smart, five times tougher, and 10 times meaner than Gingrich, is getting applause these days as a campaign finance reformer.
You Democrats gave it to her. Campaign finance reform has been a Democratic issue for decades. But all you did was talk about it over your wine and cheese. Until the Democratic Party understands that, you're going to run along in the dust kicked up by the Randy Tates and Phil Gramms.
The main reason I've been contributing to candidates over the years is that if I don't give, who will? The answer is obvious: It'll be the boys with the bags of gold. But what will my $100 get me? A thank you note at the max.
It'll disappear into the bank with money from air and water polluters, union-busters, savings and loan cheats, land rapers, and health care fraud artists.
I know. If Democrats don't take money from such people, your message will never be heard. How will you buy TV time, radio spots, newspaper ads, stamps for mailing, and yard signs?
I have an answer. It would require hard work, much creative thinking, but not nearly so much groveling. Make campaign reform an issue. My plan is to say "no PAC money" and stick to it. Make it a solicitation slogan. Eschew, like a loud sneeze, PAC money or any money from outside Washington.
Even the Times and the P-I might notice. Of course, you won't be able to buy equal time on TV. Rely on mailings and the free publicity a novel approach gives you. Make an issue of the expensive TV time. Make an issue of money and what it means. Don't brag about how much money your candidates have raised. Boast of how many people have contributed. Use your head.
When you've done all that, and gotten off the beggar's stool, I'll send my check. But I don't want my money tainted.



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Contents on this page were published in the October/November, 1995 edition of the Washington Free Press.
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