The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 15, 2008 Page: 3 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15,2008
Guest column
Dirty money requires clean elections
Like most of you, I gravitate
toward The New York Times or The
Wall Street Journal to enjoy with
my cereal each morning, but an
article on the front page
of The Houston Chronicle
caught my attention this
past Monday. I started
reading because of its ri-
diculous title, "Texas is a
cash cow for political can-
didates," but my shock at
the content of the article
hooked me past the front
page. In brief, it discusses
cash contributions from
Texas citizens going to
public officials who are
outside of the state.
It started in 1978 when Texas oil-
men devised a plan to spread their
influence to Washington and push
for deregulating the gas industry.
However, do not get the idea that
this is a partisan or a corporate is-
sue. Money is pouring out of Texas
at a lopsided ratio, with $30 million
this past year going to conservative
and liberal legislators and execu-
tives. Why? Because it works.
The more important question
is, why should you care? For one,
because the issue of private do-
nations in campaigns permeates
every issue, meaning it influences
what you care about, whether it is
environmental legislation, health
insurance, education, tax laws or
foreign policy.
To present both sides, a number
of voters feel that the privilege to
donate money to campaigns is a
form of free speech granted by
Laura
Kelley
the first amendment; this view was
supported by the Supreme Court
case Buckley v. Valeo. Many other
citizens, including myself, feel that
this system makes the
votes of some Americans
count more than others.
So what can be done
about this special interest
money that gums up our
elections? For one, there
is the option of public
financing for campaigns.
Senator Richard Durbin
of Illinois has heard vot-
ers' frustrations and now
is standing up to the pow-
ers that have controlled
Washington for too long. On March
15,2007, Durbin introduced a Sen-
ate bill that would create a federal
system of what would be called
"Clean Elections" — for those of
you interested in the presidential
elections, Senators McCain and
Obama are co-sponsoring this bill.
This system is designed to make
our government fairer by giving
an equal grant to congressional
candidates who agree to accept
no private contributions larger
than $5.
"Clean Elections" is a reform
that will combat the influence of
large political contributors. For
example, the student loan industry
has kept interest rates artificially
high for college students. "Clean
Elections" candidates will be able
to work on legislation that benefits
all of us as opposed to just their do-
nors. And with "Clean Elections,"
more citizens — including our
generation — without connections
to high-dollar donors would be able
to run for office.
"Clean Elections" has proved
that it works. In Arizona, Con-
necticut, Maine, North Carolina,
Portland, Ore. and Albuquerque,
N.M. — where "Clean Elections"
has been voted in — the system has
brought more voter choice, more
diverse candidates, grassroots
campaigns and citizens access
to their representatives. "Clean
Elections" creates a deeper and
more responsive democracy for
all of us.
"Clean Elections"
creates a deeper
and more responsive
democracy for
all of us.
You can help make this innova-
tive system a national reality. I am
founding a chapter of the national
nonprofit Democracy Matters at
Rice this semester to lobby for this
change. Join me in creating a more
robust political process. Together
we can take back our democracy
from big funders and powerful
special interests.
iMura Kelley is a Brown College
senior and Student Association
president.
Guest column
Texas primary prime for Democrats, Obama
Not long ago, many political ob-
servers wrote off the importance of
states that held their Presidential
Primaries after Feb. 5, dubbing
places like Texas a mere
epilogue to the extrava-
ganza of Super Tuesday's
contests. I would talk to
friends around the coun-
try as they nonchalantly
recounted attending inti-
mate political rallies and
meeting their favorite
presidential candidates.
They reassured me that
someday I would get the
chance to see Barack
Obama or Hillary Clinton
outside of my college-salary-sized
television. Well, as every gun-tot-
ing-cattle-herdingTexan will soon
find out, my friends were right.
Hundreds of campaign staffers
are on their way, millions of dol-
lars will be spent on rallies and
advertisements, and candidates
will be making final pleas to the
citizens of Texas. Throughout this
exciting time, I urge us students
to approach the next three weeks
with an inquisitive and grounded
mentality. It can be easy to im-
mediately jump over to whichever
campaign presents the simplest
and most idealistic solutions, yet,
as any politician or economist will
tell you, there are no easy solutions
to our health care crisis, to fight
terror or to immigration reform.
I was at a Baker Institute event
earlier this week where the Junior
Senator from Massachusetts was
speaking about the politics of the
environment. As the 2004 Demo-
cratic nominee for president, John
Kerry gave a compelling argument
for moving beyond the science
of climate change and combating
global warming with American inge-
nuity and innovation. After Kerry's
speech, I had the opportunity to
ask him a question: "How do we get
students more educated and more
involved in this movement?" 1 le took
a few seconds before answering
with two familiar words: "Barack
Hamblev
Obama." Coming from a man who
has partnered with A1 Gore since
1987 on some of the most progres-
sive environmental legislation,
these two words mean a
great deal.
When choosing a pres-
idential candidate to sup-
port, the two questions at
the forefront of my mind
are: Who will be the best
for our country, and who
will best represent my val-
ues and ideals? Although
Barack ()bama has under-
gone much scrutiny and
criticism throughout this
primary, the one argu-
ment I do not hear from any side
is that Barack Obama will not best
serve and unite our generation.
Obama strongly advocates for
extensive education reform and for
providing sufficient financial aid to
allow more Americans our age to
attend college. No other candidate
has spent as much time working
with our age group. 1 le has student
chapters at 600-plus college and
high school campuses across the
nation, including 20 throughout the
state of Texas. Obama — the only
candidate running who is not a
baby boomer — counts on our age
group as a major constituency and
will be obligated to protect our
rights and needs.
The third and final viewpoint
I will put forward is that Barack
Obama has a unique opportunity
to unite our country. A look at who
has voted for him so far shows that
he counts on support from a di-
verse coalition of white, black, old,
young, democrat, independent and,
yes, republicans. Can you imagine
what America could accomplish
if an overwhelming majority sup-
ported the president?The last time
this was the case, America helped
bring an end to the Cold War.
Of course, there is no perfect
candidate running for President.
You will have to make the choice
on more experience versus better
judgment, on smaller versus big-
ger government, on older versus
younger. If we can keep a grounded
and curious mindset, I have no doubt
that each one of us will come to the
right decision on who will best rep-
resent ourselves and our country.
As we have seen in two of the pri-
maries thus far — New Mexico and
Missouri — the fight for delegates
can be decided by a few people and
our campus could very well have a
reverberating say in who are the
presidential nominees. If you are
planning on traveling over spring
break you can still make your vote
count by voting early, starting Feb.
19. Our state has an open primary,
meaning that you do not have to be
a member of any party to vote for
their nominee.
Nick Hambley is a Will Rice College
senior and the Western Regional
Coordinator for the student wing of
Obama for America.
Grits and gesundheit
Inept Republican president
better than Democratic one
As the election returns rolled in
on the night of Super Tuesday, my
heart sank lower and lower. My
worst nightmare was coming true:
Senator John McCain
was gaining a significant
lead in the Republican
delegate count.
I maintained my opti-
mism through Wednes-
day and the following
morning, vicariously
enjoying Super Tues-
day's results through
the glee of my Obama-
supporting friends.
I was forced to face
reality on Thursday,
however, when Mitt Romney,
the last hope for conservative
Republicans, suspended his
Presidential bid. I am currently
grappling with the fact that John
McCain is now — gulp — likely
to be the Republican nominee
for President.
What is it that makes the
conservative movement dread a
McCain nomination? In a nut-
shell, he is not a conservative
Republican. Indeed, in the last
Presidential election he actively
considered running as Senator
John Kerry's vice president. The
list does not stop there. As political
commentator Charles Krautham-
mer accurately stated on Special
Report with Brit Hume, "McCain's
apostasies are too numerous to
actually count."
McCain has a terrible habit of
co-sponsoring nationally damaging
legislation with liberal Democrats.
Irrespective of the offensive com-
ponents. the names of these bills,
say it all: McCain-Feingold, McCa-
in-Kennedy, McCain-Lieberman
and McCain-Kennedy-Edwards.
Conservatives do not begrudge
McCain for attempting bipartisan
legislation. Right-wingers do take
issue with the fact that these bills
represent an absolute abandon-
ment from the conservative prin-
ciples they hold dear.
In addition to his attacks on
free speech (McCain-Feingold),
attempts to grant amnesty to
illegal immigrants (McCain-
Kennedy) , promotion of economy-
stifling global warming initiatives
(McCain-Lieberman) and an
increase in medical liability suits
(McCain-Kennedy-Edwards),
John McCain also voted against
the Bush tax cuts in 2001.
The list does not end there,
either. Many a conservative Repub-
lican could go on voicing disagree-
ments with McCain on his desire
to shut down Guantanamo, loosen
restrictions on federally funded
Caroline
May
stem-cell research and even his
participation in the "Gang of 14"
during the Senate showdown over
Supreme Court nominees. I will
spare you from monoto-
nous lists, although I am
sure that by continuing
I will pique the inter-
est of many wavering
Democrats.
My conservative
brethren and I now
stand at a crossroads,
and though the inven-
tory of grievances with
McCain is painfully long,
I am loath to think that
the only other options
come November will be Senators
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Conservatives throughout the
country are reacting to the McCain
nomination in a number of ways,
some positive, many negative. In
this situation, with the movement
seemingly in disarray, the worst
thing conservatives can do is sit
out this election, or worse, vote
for the Democratic nominee out
of spite. Instead, Republicans must
ask themselves what they believe
is in America's best interest.
The course of the country is
not a joke, and media pundits like
Ann Coulter do nothing but harm
when, for shock value, they seek
attention by advocating support
for Hillary Clinton or not voting
at all. A McCain presidency is bet-
ter than surrendering the helm to
either Clinton or Obama.
The fact that the Republic jn
candidate is not a conservative
does not mean the movement has
ended. Rather, it provides an impe-
tus for conservatives everywhere
to get active and enthusiastically
fight for change at the grassroots
level. If the president does not fully
represent the ideology, then let's
saturate our local and state gov-
ernments with conservatives and
elect conservatives to the House
and Senate. Michelle Malkin put
it well, "If you can't stomach John
McCain, channel your support and
energies to Republicans who do
represent your values and who
have treated the conservative base
as allies instead of enemies."
All Americans have a
voice — it is up to us whether or
not we chose to use it. If conser-
vatives play an active role in the
various campaigns nation-wide,
they can maintain a presence and
continue to build and preserve the
movement through and long past
a McCain presidency.
Caroline May
College junior.
is a Will Rice
the Rice Thresher
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Whitfield, Stephen. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 95, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 15, 2008, newspaper, February 15, 2008; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443023/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.