{"id":173366,"date":"2016-08-02T09:45:34","date_gmt":"2016-08-02T15:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=173366"},"modified":"2016-08-02T09:45:34","modified_gmt":"2016-08-02T15:45:34","slug":"democrats-want-reform-but-court-big-money-in-the-meantime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/08\/democrats-want-reform-but-court-big-money-in-the-meantime\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats want reform \u2014 but court big money in the meantime"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 Political candidates should not \u201cdepend on large contributions from the wealthy and the powerful,\u201d Democrats declared<\/a>\u00a0last Monday while kicking off their national convention.<\/p>\n

But the rest of the week made this clear: Democrats have a light year to go before ever reaching that goal.<\/p>\n

\"Democratic

Michael Beckel \/ The Center for Public Integrity<\/p>

A banner promoting the Democratic National Convention, adorned with the corporate logo of insurance company Independence Blue Cross, hangs on a streetlight in Philadelphia.<\/p><\/div>\n

Banners decorating lampposts<\/a> along major thoroughfares carried the names of top convention sponsors, such as Comcast, AT&T and Amalgamated Bank.<\/p>\n

Corporations such as oil giant Chevron sponsored state delegation lunches.<\/p>\n

And the swank lobby of the Ritz-Carlton, with its marble columns and soaring, domed ceiling, was packed all week with the Democrats\u2019 most stalwart bankrollers.<\/p>\n

The irony wasn\u2019t lost on anyone.<\/p>\n

At the Ritz, which housed elite contributors, donors mingled with lawmakers, shaking hands and greeting their benefactors and other acquaintances.<\/p>\n

A long line of dark SUVs lined the sidewalk outside the Ritz, waiting to ferry deep-pocketed contributors from luncheons to cocktail hours to special briefings with top officials.<\/p>\n

Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden<\/a> of Oregon, while surveying the Ritz lobby, said he and many other lawmakers live a \u201cdual existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

By day, Wyden said, he crafts and fights for legislation that would require more disclosure and transparency in campaign finance and reduce the influence of big donors.<\/p>\n

And then, he said, \u201cmy staff sends me home at 7 or 8 o\u2019clock at night with a bunch of call sheets to call people on the West Coast \u2026 and I\u2019m calling with my little tin cup out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter you\u2019ve done that for a couple of hours you want to drown yourself in the bathtub.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reform the system, just not tonight<\/h3>\n

Both U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a> of Vermont and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton<\/a> agitated during the Democratic presidential primaries against the unbridled influence of money on the political process.<\/p>\n

Sanders and Clinton have, for example, both called for the overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission<\/em><\/a>, which opened the door to unlimited political spending by corporations, unions and other special interests.<\/p>\n

But the Democrats\u2019 week in Philadelphia also highlighted other, more traditional avenues of big-money influence that have made a comeback of sorts during 2016.<\/p>\n