Metroland has an article in the current issue about Raleigh and McNulty. [The link will probably go bad but if you Google "raleigh mcnulty citizen action metroland" without the quote marks, you'll probably find it.] There’s a big discussion of “Clean Money – Clean Elections” (CMCE) campaign finance reform. I posted before about McNulty’s hypocrisy on this issue, but the article provokes further comment.
In the article, Raleigh criticizes McNulty and Citizen Action (a far-left group that advocates CMCE among other things) over the fact that McNulty gave Citizen Action $1650 this year and Citizen Action then endorsed him.
McNulty is quoted as saying there’s nothing wrong with him giving money to Citizen Action and also mentions that he contributes to the League of Women Voters, closing with: “Does he [Raleigh] think I should stop doing that?”
I can’t speak for Raleigh, but my answer is a qualified yes. McNulty should not make contributions to groups like that from his campaign funds. I don’t see anything wrong with him doing it from his own personal funds, but giving campaign funds to groups that purport to be neutral is an inappropriate use of such funds. In the same vein, Citizen Action and the LWV should refuse to accept contributions from campaign accounts. Campaign funds are used to improve your chances at election. That’s their purpose. Citizen Action and LWV should have higher ethical standards.
I don’t really have a beef with LWV because their actions clearly demonstrate the money does not affect how they do their business. I don’t believe they endorse candidates anyway.
What’s really ironic is Citizen Action taking money from someone who accepts contributions in a manner they dislike, and then turning around and endorsing that guy. This is the same group that complains about the appearance of money corrupting politics and they go ahead and accept money in a manner that calls their own ethics into question.
Just to be clear on the CMCE legislation in Congress, it would further solidify incumbents and make life even harder than it already is for challengers. Incumbents would be all the more entrenched and have even less reason to be responsive to their constitutents. The sensible approach to election and campaign reform is to give free postage to all candidates. Someone please tell me why this isn’t a part of CMCE. Why doesn’t Citizen Action support free postage for candidates?
