Vilsack Pulls out of Presidential Race over Money

Unless one is a political hack or lives in Iowa, the name Tom Vilsack probably doesn’t mean much. However, he has the distinction of being the first candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2008 to quit the race. In withdrawing from the campaign, Mr. Vilsack said he simply couldn’t raise the money needed to make a reasonable run for the White House. What more proof does one need that the system is broken?

Mr. Vilsack was, of course, a long shot from the beginning (if indeed, the campaign as actually begun). Still, the man wanted the troops out of Iraq-Nam right away, backed a universal health program, and had a pretty green approach to the environment (which, incidentally, a lot of farm state folks do – it’s their livelihoods). All of these are decent positions worthy of consideration and debate if not acceptance. Unfortunately, he won’t be the one raising them.

On Friday, he said, “Today, I am announcing that we are ending this presidential campaign. This process has become to a great extent about money, a lot of money. It is clear to me that we would not be able to continue to raise money in the amounts necessary. It is money and only money that is the reason we are leaving today.”

Defenders of the current system have a point when they say that candidates who can’t raise the money don’t have the depth of support needed to make a successful run in the general election. It’s one thing to say, “I like Tom Vilsack” or “Tom’s my guy.” It’s quite another to send him a check for $10, $100, or $1,000. When money gets put where mouths are, things get serious.

Nonetheless, the necessity to raise money means that candidates spend their time with and pursue the interests of those who have money to spend on politics. That leaves out the working poor, and given the way the economy has gone, a great deal of the middle class. Thus, democracy decays into plutocracy, and republic slides toward empire.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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