{news} Common Cause on Cam.Fin. Ref.--"Embrace" the bad parts??

[Green Party-CT]

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  http://www.courant.com/news/local/northeast/hc-3q1218.artdec18,0,6842370.story?coll=hc-northeast-top         

Curbing Money's Clout 



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December 18 2005

3Q>> Andy Sauer, 38, executive director of the Connecticut chapter of Common Cause, spent weeks in the spotlight as the state legislature debated, and eventually passed, a comprehensive campaign finance reform bill. Sauer's group, Common Cause, is a national, non-profit lobbying group that says it promotes responsible, accountable government, and has long fought for campaign finance reform. A former journalist and public relations man, Sauer became the executive director in 2003. He spokes recently with Courant staff writer Katie Melone.

Q1: Why do you feel so strongly about campaign finance reform?

It's the reform of all reforms.

All reforms, whether it's education, property tax, environmental reforms - all those reforms require debate. It requires a dialogue between all points of view to construct the best reform. Each reform is multi-faceted. The point is, get in a room, talk, and work it out. Money distorts the debate. Time and time again, every single reform that is discussed at the Capitol, money is distorting the debate. So someone who is interested in government, in improving the world around him, realizes that we need to do something about this problem of money and politics. There's not a constructive dialogue occurring anymore. It's a bidding war, and anyone who says otherwise is not being honest. Because there have been so many examples at the Capitol where money has trumped - end of story.

Really, that's what drew me to campaign finance reform. That and I just saw that, year after year, the one with the most money was winning the elections. It occurred to me in the 2000 presidential election during the primaries. I was interested in John McCain, who is a huge campaign finance reformer, and the newspapers were already saying, "He's done, because Bush has raised more money than him." It was before he even came to Connecticut for the primaries, and I just said at that point, you know, something has to be done. This isn't what democracy is all about.

Q2: Do you think this law will be the death of third parties because it will be hard for them to obtain public financing?

No. Look, third parties, especially in Connecticut, are having a tough time of it. They need this reform. It's going to help them. I realize that the language of the bill - the way its written - it makes it more challenging for them to get the money than it does for Democrats or Republicans. And I advocated any sort of provisions placed on there really are unnecessary.However, to get reforms passed, you need to go through the legislative process. So you start out with the ideal and little by little have to back off from there, and then when the bill that comes forward, that leadership presents to you and says, "This is the bill that we can get passed..." Yeah, there are some parts you have to hold your nose at.

Right now [before the bill's enactment] third parties have nothing. They have no shot. They are out of the process. Every time they throw a third party candidate in any election ... it's like throwing them to the wolves. They don't stand a chance in a system that's dominated by money. Here, we're offering them a shot at money. A shot that right now they have not had, whether they have to prove their party was a viable party in the previous election or whatever. You know what? That's better than the situation they have now. Instead of trashing this provision of this bill, they should embrace it, make the most of it.

And you know what? It's something that can be improved down the road, when more third party candidates get elected.

Q3: What do you think motivated the state legislature to pass this law when it did? Would it have been possible without the scandal surrounding the last administration?

Yes, the scandal was an important part of this process for reform. It was a huge part, in so many ways; but it wasn't enough. There was the work of a lot of people. Had the scandal gone and ended and when Jodi Rell raised her right hand and swore the oath to be governor and didn't mention anything about campaign finance reform, that might have been the end of it. But no. In her inauguration speech she spoke about the need for campaign finance reform. You talk about the issue getting clout - that's when our issue suddenly got a lot of clout.

One of the first things she did was meet with campaign finance reform advocates. I was there ... Tom Swan [of Connecticut Citizen Action Group], Karen Hobert Flynn as the chair of Common Cause was there, the League of Women Voters, CONNpirg ... We were the first, and to the best of my knowledge, the only registered lobbyists she has met with in the Capitol. So she made this issue very important. She put it on the radar screen for everyone.   Copyright 2005, Hartford Courant 



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      THE GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT is the third largest political party in CT. The Greens are also the third largest political party in the US, with 220 Greens officeholders in 27 states. Over 80 countries in world have Green Parties. Wangari Maathai, the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is Kenya's assistant minister for environment and an elected Green Party member.
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National Committee member from Connecticut: Tim McKee (860) 324-1684

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