Last edited Sun Jan 11, 2015, 08:19 PM - Edit history (1)
Given the pressure to sell one's political soul which has been the predictable result of the Citizens United decision, I am glad to see an independently wealthy environmentalist like Steyer running. He won't have depended upon corporate special interest bribes to be elected or to run for re-eletion. He and his votes would never be for sale to Big Oil, Frackers, Wall Street, etc. And another positive, is he won't have to spend half his time raising funds for his next campaign. Senators like him would be to Big Corporate interests as sunlight is to a vampire!
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/01/tom-harkin-retire-senator-fundraise-money
Those of us who follow political money read reports and op-eds, listen to speeches and panels and testimonies, and often the criticism is that big money in elections "drowns out" the voices of everyday Americans. But rarely do we hear about the impact of all that money on members of Congress themselves and how they do their jobs (or don't). Only when lawmakers like Sen. Harkin, with an eye on the exit, pipe up do we get that insider's view of what's gained—and lost—in today's cash-soaked politics. To be clear, the disgusting amount of time lawmakers spend raising money doesn't just stymie real friendships and make the Senate less fun; when few senators get along, it makes the Senate less functional.
Harkin is not the only senator to point this out. Last year another liberal stalwart, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), memorably told Alex Blumberg of NPR's Planet Money that Americans "would be shocked—not surprised, but shocked—if they knew how much time a United States senator spends raising money." He added, "And how much time we spend talking about raising money, and thinking about raising money, and planning to raise money."
And how much time are talking about here? It varies from lawmaker to lawmaker, but here's a PowerPoint slide prepared by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that outlined the "model daily schedule" for incoming freshmen Democrats (the presentation was first obtained by the Huffington Post): (click link to see chart: it details 4 hours per day spent fundraising.)
"Call time" means fundraising time: hours spent on the phone calling up current and potential donors and asking for campaign cash. The DCCC tells its freshmen to spend more time calling donors than they spend on anything else. Ezra Klein called it "the most depressing graphic for members of Congress." I'm sure Tom Harkin would agree
The OP's article has been updated.
div class="excerpt"]UPDATE
9:58 a.m. Jan. 10: This post has been updated to reflect former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigos's announcement that he may run for Sen. Barbara Boxer's seat.
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