Spend a Couple Dollars Tonight - It's Bargain Night in Politics

Want to make someone happy for $25 or $50? Tonight's your night.

Like some sort of third world currency, the value of your political dollars varies month-to-month, even day-to-day. Right here in Kansas City, your political dollar is at a peak, but the value will come crashing down before the end of the week.

Why? Because the June 30 reporting deadline is today. What a candidate receives today will show up in a week or so when the campaign filings are done, and political insiders will dissect those reports not only for total figures, but also for depth, breadth and identity of support.

It's about intimidation. A candidate who shows early strength in fundraising looks formidable. A candidate who turns in a lackadaisical fundraising report looks vulnerable. It's still early enough that potential opponents still think they could take on a vulnerable candidate, so tonight's the night that could determine the difficulty of the 2010 elections for a lot of candidates.

Your small check tonight could save a candidate tens of thousands of dollars down the road.

Not surprisingly, there are fundraisers aplenty tonight. If you're wanting to help out strong young Democrats, you should seriously consider dropping by Wine., 112 West 63rd Street, tonight, where Kevin McManus will be launching his campaign to succeed Kate Meiners after she is termed out, or coming to the "Party on the Porch" being thrown by "lots of fabulous women" for Jackson County's best legislator, Theresa Garza Ruiz.

I hope to make both. I love a bargain.

Why I Don't Blindly Trust Democrats, Either

I've just posted two rather partisan pieces, and a casual reader would be justified in thinking they've wandered onto the homepage of blind Democratic partisanship.

Make no mistake about it - we have our flaws on the Democratic side, as well.

The report last week by Steve Kraske and Dave Helling about Victor Callahan ought to have Democrats talking about policing their own ranks. The Westport Community Improvement District made one political donation in 2008, and that was a $10,000 gift to a Senator who played a key role in defeating their top priority in the prior year.

Now, Callahan is working to pass their top priority. Even though he does not represent that district.

Tit is dangerously close to tat, don't you think?

Follow-Up on Koster's Money-Laundering - Will Coffman and Spence Drop the Ice Pick?

When Chris Koster got caught orchestrating a money-laundering scheme, many people began focusing on the ugly role that "third party committees" play in Missouri politics. While Chris Koster has pushed the envelope for their corrupt abuse in an unprecedented and probably illegal fashion, political insiders know that third party committees are nasty little tools that can used in several slimy tactics - mostly in launching ugly, usually false but always despicable attacks on opponents without having the candidate's name attached. They are the ice picks of Missouri politics - dangerous tools with few legitimate uses in today's world, other than inflicting damage.

Long before the light of day was shone upon the depths of Koster's corruption, Jason Kander was already providing leadership on this important facet of campaign finance. On, June 3, Jason Kander issued a press release pledging not to use the third party committees to circumvent the law, the way that the Koster campaign has.

"I will not take contributions above the $325 limit from committees or use third party committees to criticize my opponents. I hope that my opponents will also follow the letter and spirit of the law," said Kander.

So far, Amy Coffman and Mary Cosgrove Spence have remained silent about third party committees. Now that Chris Koster has refocused attention on the corrupt uses of third party committees, will they join Jason in his simple pledge? Will they agree to not take contributions over the $325 limit from committees, or use third party committees to criticize their opponents?

Now is the time when they can either put down the ice pick or start using it to get nasty in the final weeks of the campaign.

Amy Coffman and Mary Cosgrove Spence - will you join Jason in putting down the ice pick, or will you resort to third party committees like Chris Koster?

(As soon as I receive word that Amy Coffman and Mary Spence join in the pledge, I will happily post their press releases.)

Corporate Contributions for McCain?

Corporations are banned from making campaign contributions (though they are free to form PACs, where all career-wise climbers toss their dollars in with their country-club bosses). It's becoming increasingly obvious, though, that the oil companies are NOT going to sit on the sidelines this election season. In an election that features change from Obama or a third term of record profits from "McSame", they are going "all-in" for McCain.

They've come up with an ingenious mechanism to translate some of those obscene profits into support for McCain, without technically violating the law against contributing directly. It's absolutely Rovian in its underhanded simplicity.

McCain has taken the moral low ground by flip-flopping on open drilling. Any honest and informed person knows that off-shore drilling will take a decade or more to produce even a trickle of gasoline, and provides absolutely no relief for high prices at the pump for the foreseeable future. Immediately, though, it will foul our coastal ecosystems, and expose more of our fisheries and natural beauty to the risk of another Exxon Valdez.

But birds gotta fly, and oil companies gotta drill. And McCain is the key to offshore oil drilling.

So, rather than making campaign contributions to McCain, they have worked out a little sleight of hand. McCain has sold his maverick soul to the oil companies, and now all the oil companies have to do is run dozens upon dozens of "issue advertisements" misleading Americans into believing that offshore drilling will lower gas prices.

An extra dollop of pay-off comes from the fact that there's no similar group of obscenely profitable companies who are positioned to respond. The charming bed and breakfast overlooking the ocean cannot afford prime time "issue advertisements" to compete with the oil companies. The hardworking fishermen don't have the time to go talk to the hotshots on Madison Avenue. Environmentalists cannot hope to raise money with the cruel efficiency of the oil industry siphoning unwilling donations out of my own wallet whenever I fill my tank.

The oil companies are going to use a portion of their record-setting profits to try to buy the election for McCain. They have profited wildly during Bush's presidency, and McCain represents more of the same.

Whenever you see their advertisements urging us to throw away our environmental heritage for a false quick bandaid, recognize what they are trying to do. They're skirting the laws and trying to fool us into supporting another term of record profits.

Kander Shows Leadership on Campaign Finance Reform

Campaign Finance Reform lies at the heart of good government. It is also, unfortunately, one of the most difficult areas for even the best-hearted legislators to accomplish meaningful change. Money is kind of like toothpaste in a tube - if you press down on it in one spot, it rises in another.

Jason Kander understands the issue well.

He knows that even where campaign limits are in place (as they are through the primaries in Missouri), they can be easily circumvented through third party committees (look at Koster's scheme to fatten his coffers with Republican donations). Jason has pledged not to resort to such tactics, and has called on his opponents to do the same. "I will not take contributions above the $325 limit from committees or use third party committees to criticize my opponents. I hope that my opponents will also follow the letter and spirit of the law," Kander said in a press release.

As alert insiders know, this is not one of those meaningless gestures that typify campaign reform discussions. Jason received some very large donations early in the campaign, and he returned them. I'm confident he could get them again, and funnel them through committees just like Koster did.

By refusing to play such games and calling on his opponents to do the same, Jason Kander is demonstrating the same kind of leadership by example that will make him a powerhouse for the 44th District in Jefferson City.

As soon as I receive word that Amy Coffman and Mary Spence join in the pledge, I will happily post their press releases.