Dear Mr. Jones:
At a recent town hall, you pledged never to take “a dime from PACs, special interests, or lobbyists.”
According to Federal Election Committee (FEC) reports, a Super PAC supporting your campaign – New Leadership Now – has spent $1.254 million on your behalf, funding mailers, television, radio and digital advertising. Much of that funding comes from donors outside Congressional District 4, including San Francisco and New York.
While you may not accept these funds directly, your campaign is clearly benefiting from them. For voters trying to assess your integrity, honesty and independence, that distinction matters.
Please explain to voters, how you are living up to your promises?
Anne Ching
Sonoma
This PAC sent me a mailer that was degrading to those of us in our senior years. It trashed Mike Thompson for being 75 years, old. I am 75 years old. I e-mailed Jone’s campaign to let them know how insulting this is to those of us who fought for civil, women’s and LGBTQ rights and to stop the Vietnam war. I received a reply, stating he did not originate this mailer, yet in reality he does benefit from the PAC that creates this stuff and insults us with it. The e-mail I received was all nicey, nicey, but sadly I know Jones is not someone to be trusted. I hope people can see though this. Mike Thompson may not be perfect, but I will say that every time I have had an interaction with him, he has been honest and straightforward with me.
Mr. Jones is a nice young man who insists he won’t take money from PACS, lobbyists or special interests, a “pledge” perhaps indicative of a youthful ignorance about how American democracy actually works. Unless a candidate is independently wealthy (e.g.,Mr. Steyer), the cash to finance a campaign for office must come from others, be those others a neighbor next door or a friendly corporation, political party, etc. Of course, “others” who ‘invest’ in a politician to help him/her get elected expect a “return on investment,” be it a simple vote to put a stop sign at a busy intersection, or the award of a multi-million dollar paving contract from the city. Politicians who “come thru” for constituents likewise expect help to stay in office and perhaps advance politically. Such efforts require cash.
And so it goes. Call them “contributions” or “bribes,” the objective — and the morality/immorality — is the same. Without them, democracy does not work.
Yes, “voting” in “free and fair elections” are the mechanics of democracy, but money fuels how those votes are cast. In the final analysis, that’s how democracy works.