DURHAM -- Where I come from, we tend to be a little skeptical of the man who stuffs doughnuts into one side of his mouth while mumbling about how he needs to lose weight out of the other. I feel the same way about the lawmakers who folded to special interests last week and took Voter-Owned Elections out of a crucial state Senate bill that would have expanded the use of these programs to more Council of State races. Gentlemen, look in the mirror : we need to do things differently.
We cannot keep expecting candidates to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to win office and expect them all to remain as clean as a hound's tooth in the process. Nor can we expect anyone in this state to believe that special interests are pouring millions into campaign coffers out of the goodness of their hearts. Take that tune to another state. We North Carolinians have more common sense than that. We know they expect something in return and that they're getting it - right out of our pockets.
I'm sure the legislature will come up with an ethics bill eventually, but slapping Band-Aids on a broken leg isn't going to get us very far. We need a way for candidates to run for office without getting into bed with big donors. We need leaders who are willing to stand up to special interests. And we need Voter-Owned Elections to get us there.
We already know these programs work - in fact, they're working right here in our own state and they're working quite well, thank you very much, without any of the problems so direly predicted by opponents. So what are our leaders afraid of?
Reportedly, some Democrats were scared off by phone calls generated by a national special-interest group that likes to whip people into a frenzy over any issue that can be misinterpreted, however boneheadedly, with the use of the word "welfare" and a snappy hyphen. When I hear that our leaders are listening seriously to people who believe a yearly $5 surcharge on new businesses will cause those businesses to go under, I have to admit that I am impressed by their optimism. Do they really think those people are going to look beyond the scarlet "D" on their foreheads and vote for them under any circumstances?
I'm no polling genius, but I'm pretty sure that if you asked small business owners if they'd be willing to fork over $5 a year in exchange for a level playing field and an equal shot at state contracts, they'd be throwing dollar bills at you faster than you could duck. In fact, I'd even venture to say that virtually all North Carolinians would be happy to chip in $5 a year for a government that actually represents them instead of the giant pharmaceutical conglomerate down the street or the developer ripping up their beachfront.
Next time those Senate leaders have the opportunity to endorse Voter-Owned Elections they should use their common sense and acknowledge that we can't fix a broken system without changing that system. Then they should take a deep breath - and find the courage to change it.
Katy Munger is communications director of Democracy North Carolina.
