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Feb. 18, 2008

Ending the Campaign Money Chase

By Wayne Goodwin

RALEIGH - In February’s final weeks, North Carolina launches its experiment that empowers voters and lessens the role of money in politics.  What is this bold new experiment?  First, a short history lesson is in order.

Back in the 1700s, fear of king-picked chief executives and their great powers led to North Carolina having a weak governor and a state government with decentralized executive authority.

As our state grew, responsibility for important policy areas such as agriculture, labor and the regulation of insurance was divided among independently elected constitutional offices, together called the Council of State.

Each Council of State officer is continuously bombarded by special interests that want to influence these policy areas. The bombardment is most intense leading up to elections, when special interests ratchet up their pitch with promises of campaign contributions to candidates they approach.

Witness recent scandals involving disgraced former Speaker Jim Black and others during the last few years. What have these scandals done to public trust in government? It is vital that elected officials remain free from actual or perceived undue influence. That is why campaign reforms for these offices and others have been and remain so badly needed.

This is not merely academic for me.  As a statewide candidate in 2004, I witnessed first-hand what our candidates for statewide office endure.

While it used to be that candidates would call on a few people in each county while enjoying an RC Cola at a country store or attend umpteen barbecues, campaigning is now about the money chase and spending every waking hour raising campaign contributions. Why? Because campaigns today involve expensive TV ads, countless polls and consultants in a world where fewer and fewer folks pay attention to elections.

Like other candidates, I locked myself in a cubicle -- a campaign “war room” -- and spent up to 12 hours daily, six days weekly, on the phone for between six and 12 months, raising campaign funds.

Asking someone to donate to a charitable cause is one thing, but making 200 calls daily for your personal campaign’s benefit decimates what a candidate should be doing -- spending time with voters.

To accumulate the amount of cash most campaigns are told they need these days, they choose to focus more often on donors of larger sums.

Not surprisingly, many persons who donate to Council of State offices are often persons directly or indirectly regulated by those very offices. Big donors sometimes use their influence to seek tax breaks, weak regulations or favors that cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.

Last year, legislators passed a new law that’s a first step toward solving this problem. The Voter-Owned Elections Pilot is a voluntary public financing option for certain Council of State candidates. Lawmakers, current and former Council of State leaders and thousands of North Carolinians believe it is a good idea because it gives candidates a chance to forego the dreadful money chase and reject special interest cash in exchange for limited public funds for their campaigns.

Specifically, candidates for insurance commissioner, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction could receive a public grant to run their campaign if they collect at least 750 small “qualifying” contributions from registered North Carolina voters over a short period of time.  Contributions are capped at $200.

As this year’s candidates commence filing for statewide office over the next two weeks, North Carolina will take a gigantic step toward cleaning up the campaign process. We will increase the number of qualified candidates willing to run and enhance interaction between them and the voters.  Grassroots politicking will return.

Let’s hope this experiment of voluntary public campaign financing proves successful.  Otherwise, campaigns will become more like a modern Frankenstein’s monster -- frightening voters and repulsing prospective candidates from offering themselves for public service.

Wayne Goodwin is vice president of the N.C. Center for Voter Education and a former member of the N.C. House, where he represented Richmond, Scotland, Stanly and Montgomery counties. Today he is the assistant state commissioner of insurance.