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From Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a Durham-based elections research and advocacy group.
When a politician cheats or steals, the press loves to play "gotcha," and the public is outraged. But what if the campaign system rules invite a candidate to cheat in order to win election?
Will the public demand change? Will the news media applaud politicians such as House Speaker Joe Hackney and state Sen. Dan Clodfelter for trying to reform campaign finance? It's easy to criticize, but much harder to fix the problem.
Last week, the State Board of Elections fined the Mike Easley Committee and Democratic Party a total of $109,000 and referred the former governor to the district attorney for criminal investigation. The board also said it's illegal to channel earmarked donations through a political party to a candidate's campaign. It said a new state law should make the candidate pay election-law fines if the campaign committee is broke.
Those actions highlight a need to reward good candidates and punish the bad:
Candidates need the protection of strong laws, fairly enforced, to weed out cheaters. But no set of regulations can prevent immoral candidates from using loopholes to channel large amounts of private money into a campaign. More regulation, alone, won't produce better politicians.
We need more candidates with the moral strength to withstand the temptations of high-stakes fundraising. As campaign costs climb and consultants devise new ways to skirt the law, how can we help candidates stick to their values?
The voluntary public financing program for some N.C. offices provides one alternative; it rewards candidates who raise a certain amount of small donations with a public grant to run their campaign.
Good public officials deserve more support. By not noticing who's doing a good job or by stereotyping all politicians as corrupt, we hurt ourselves. Good government requires our participation.
