Special interest money & my senators: Kohl and Feingold.

[elocs]

I was looking for some other things when I stumbled upon this article:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20061022/ai_n16800099

"Money and politics: A new study rates Herb Kohl as the senator least reliant on special interest cash since 2000.

The rankings by Public Citizen track four kinds of campaign money that the group regards as symptoms of undue influence on lawmakers: contributions from lobbyists, money from big donors compared to small donors, money from out-of-state donors and money from political action committees.

Kohl, who largely finances his own campaign, raised the least of any senator in out-of-state donations (a six-year total of $673), the least from lobbyists (zero) and the least from PACs ($8,365). Feingold was ranked five spots behind Kohl near the bottom of the overall list of recipients of "special interest" money.

Topping the overall list of recipients was Montana Democrat Max Baucus. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) was first in out-of-state money and second in contributions from lobbyists."

It's hard to imagine taking 0 dollars from lobbyists. It reminds me of Wisconsin's Senator Proxmire who really did not raise any money for his reelections. It was also nice to see that my representative, Democrat Ron Kind, had a special interest money ranking in the House of 329 out of 435.

[evlbstrd]

1. Nice post.

It's so clear that we need public financing of elections.
Oh, and paper ballots.

[Edweird]

2. You're lucky to have a couple of straight shooters.

That is how it should be.

[illinoisprogressive]

3. I like your senators. My brother in milwaukee loves fiengold.

[Ben Masel]

4. Kohl spent $3.2 million out of pocket to defeat me in the Primary.

I spent $662, all raised in $1 donations, so he outspent me 6,000 to 1 to beat me 6 to 1.

[elocs]

5. The article clearly says that Kohl largely finances his own campaign.

The point is that he is not taking a lot of out of state money or special interest money compared to other senators. I don't know if I ever even heard of you or about you in the primary election. How may I listen to you if I cannot hear you? Welcome to the reality of mass communications in running for state offices in the 21st century. You may have a good message, but while a quaint campaign may get you elected in a local election, it won't in a state with 5.5 million people.

[Ben Masel]

6. I'm running again in 2012

Already filed my Declaration of Candidacy. Vote for me, or not, just don't tell me in 2013 that you never heard I was running.

[elocs]

7. My guess is that I am not alone in Wisconsin in not hearing of you,

but I take your point. Although if you are serious about winning, then you had better make sure that most voters at least hear of you. You must be running again for Kohl's seat, but he is getting a little old so will he run again?

[Ben Masel]

9. I wasn't in it to "win" last time,

at least not in the conventional sense. In part, I sought to use the race as an experiment to establish what new techs could do for an outsider not spending big $. The 51,000+ votes I amassed exceeded even my own expectations.

Still got my campaign Myspace page up at http://myspace.com/ben_masel if you want to check out my issues.

[hfojvt]

8. Kohl may not take special interest money

but unlike Mark Dayton and Ted Kennedy, he is more likely to vote with his class. At least when Clinton was President and I lived in Wisconsin Kohl was always voting with the Republicans. I don't care much for him even though he is on the same page as my dad in the Badger yearbook, class of 1956.

It says his middle name is Hershel. He was president of Pi Lamda Phi, majored in American Institutions, and was a transfer from Michigan!