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Read more about the reform positions of all the presidential candidates here.
Here is the letter we are sending.
The Honorable John S. McCain
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
Dear Senator McCain,
As Americans committed to reforming the nation's campaign finance laws, we are dismayed by your failure to sponsor or cosponsor the two bills in Congress that would go the farthest in addressing the inequities inherent in the private financing of our elections. In addition, we are most deeply concerned about your refusal to pledge to make passing public financing of federal elections a priority if you are elected this November.
Your history on campaign finance reform is laudable. But there is wide recognition that sweeping new legislation must be passed to level the playing field and make elections fair. As you are aware, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the Senate to fix the presidential system of public financing, S. 2412, sponsored by Senators Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), and to establish Clean Election-style public financing for Congressional races, S. 1285 sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA).
This is not a time for tinkering around the edges of campaign finance law. Bold policies that address the root cause of the problems in election financing are necessary. As the cost to run for office reaches new heights with every election cycle, and with the continued domination of big money in the process despite the increase in the number of small donors, comprehensive public financing is what will work.
In the past you have stated that public financing modeled after working state laws, including one in your home state of Arizona, brings new people into the process as candidates, donors, and voters. Your recent public statements in opposition to expanding these systems to all federal elections, after initially embracing the idea, are an unfortunate departure from your past positioning, particularly in light of the skyrocketing costs of running for federal office.
The absence of your name among the cosponsors of these bipartisan bills is especially conspicuous given that the names of both Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) appear on the Feingold-Collins bill. In addition, Senator Obama is a cosponsor of the Durbin-Specter proposal, while Clinton has co-sponsored similar legislation in the past. She has said she will make passage of such a law a priority if elected.
Amid the news reports regarding the lobbyists associated with your campaign and the U.S. Federal Election Commission complaints filed regarding the legality of your opting out of the current presidential system, the clearest actions you could take to demonstrate your continued commitment to end pay-to-play politics in our nation’s capital would be to cosponsor both these pieces of legislation. It is our view that doing little or proposing half-measures will fall short.
While any proposal can be improved, there are no better legislative vehicles in the current Congress to reduce the power of big money interests in Washington while enhancing the voices of ordinary voters.
It is hope that you will immediately act to cosponsor both measures and make a bold, strong public declaration that, if elected, 2008 will be the last election so dominated by special interest money in politics.
Signed,
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