June 21, 2004

Editorial: 

How To Back Real Reform

Wisconsin has not exactly been a leader in the push for campaign finance reform. Despite the fact that U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold is synonymous with the push to clean up elections at the national level, our state political processes continue to invite the sort of corrupting contributions and so-called "independent" expenditures that tip the balance toward the special interests and away from the public interest.

So what can Wisconsinites do to take a stand for clean politics? They can, of course, continue to encourage Feingold as he seeks to initiate new reforms at the federal level - particularly moves that would encourage television and radio outlets to make free airtime available to candidates.

They can back the good efforts of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Common Cause, Citizen Action and Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton to get campaign finance reform on the state agenda.

They can pressure Gov. Jim Doyle and the Legislature to take seriously the need to fix a system so broken that six current or former legislators face charges of wrongdoing with regard to their political practices. And, of course, Wisconsinites can vote this fall to replace those legislators who fail to support reform.

But Wisconsinites can do something else. They can help defend a model for reform at the state level that is under attack by the ugliest corporate interests in America.

The model is Arizona's Clean Elections Act, which provides public funding for candidates who agree to accept no special interest contributions and to generally abide by good practices when it comes to campaigning. Arizona is one of six states that has opted for the clean money approach, and the experience has been a good one.

Given an opportunity to stop chasing after corporate cash and to start acting in the best interest of their constituents, a growing number of candidates have decided to run clean campaigns. Of 11 statewide officials in Arizona, nine were elected as "clean money" candidates - including Gov. Janet Napolitano. And roughly a third of all the state's legislators came in clean.

With the Clean Elections Act working so well, it would be logical to presume that Arizonans would be talking this year only about how to improve an already good system. Unfortunately, logic does not prevail in politics very often.

Corporate interests are scheming to scrap Arizona's Clean Elections Act by pouring money into a campaign to enact a state constitutional amendment that would ban the use of public money to cover the costs of clean campaigns.

By drying up the money, the corporate interests figure, they can force the candidates to come back to them for election year contributions. And, of course, when the corporate contributions begin to flow, the corporate interests are back in charge of the political and legislative processes.

Arizonans are fighting back against the corporate-sponsored campaign to amend the state constitution. A "Keep It Clean" campaign has been organized, and it will mount a feisty challenge to the special interests. Unfortunately, it will not have the sort of resources that the pro-amendment forces have access to. That's where Wisconsinites come in.

The "Keep It Clean" campaign is asking supporters of reform from across the country to contribute $5 each to keep Arizona politics clean. Texas populist Jim Hightower says, "We need to spread clean elections, not kill them, and Arizona is the place for all democracy fighters to take a stand."

We agree.

To find out more about the Keep It Clean campaign, or to contribute, readers can call 202-293-0222 or visit the www.pcactionfund.org Web site.