The New York City mayoral race has ripped the mask off of
this country’s “democratic” system. The race has been all
about money from the very start. For one, in the biggest
economic crisis in decades, the Democratic and Republican
parties are offering New Yorkers a choice between a former banker (William Thompson) and a billionaire (Michael
Bloomberg). To make matters worse, the Campaign Finance
Board systematically excluded third-party candidates from
the mayoral debates who did not raise $50,000 (for the first
debate) and $500,000 (for the second).
Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign has been especially
disgusting. Spending arond $850,000 per day, according to
the Associated Press, he is now on pace to spend between
$110 and $140 million of his own money by the end of the
campaign. Altogether, over the span of three elections, he
will have spent $250 million—more than any politician in
U.S. history has ever spent in pursuit of public office.
Bloomberg is the city’s richest man—with a net worth
around $16 billion—and like the robber barons of the
late 19th century, throws his money around to purchase
support and endorsements. The city held two referendums
supporting term limits for elected officials, but Bloomberg
pulled off a shady backroom deal with the Democratic-
controlled City Council to allow himself to run again.
With relentless television and radio advertisements,
brochures mailed to every home in the city and non-stop
“robocalls,” Bloomberg has portrayed himself as the ally
of the common man and woman, fighting for affordable
housing, public education and against fare hikes. With
advertising, he has, quite simply, rewritten the official history
of the last eight years—and somehow kept a straight face.
This race has lessons for progressives and activists across
the country. Advocates for campaign finance reform are
closely watching a pending Supreme Court case that could
overturn a 1907 law banning direct campaign contributions
from corporations to political candidates. They are right to
be concerned, but the problem is much deeper.
As long as the media remains in corporate hands, there
can never be a true “level playing field.” Again, the New York
City mayoral election is instructive; none of the third-party
candidates, including the PSL’s candidate Frances Villar, were
given article-length coverage in the mainstream media. Last
year, these same national outlets shut out the third-party
candidates, even those who were on the ballot in 40 states.
Moreover, as long as private fundraising and spending
free-for-alls remain, the capitalist class will always find a
way to purchase elections. After the Watergate scandal, 65
percent of the country favored public financing for electoral
campaigns and a ban on private contributions. But the
regulatory apparatus that Congress set up in 1975—the
Federal Election Commission—only facilitated Wall Street’s
influence. In the five years after the “reform” legislation, the
number of corporate Political Action Committees (expressly
permitted by the FEC) increased nearly tenfold. The FEC has
further served as a bulwark against third-party challengers.
Take away their Political Action Committees, and the
corporations and banks will set up non-profits to funnel
money to candidates. Take these away, and they will just find
an alternate route. Even when there are caps on individual
contributions, there is nothing to stop billionaires like
Bloomberg from going on a political shopping spree.
“Democracy” under capitalism is always a sham since
the big decisions are made by the unelected tiny few who
control all the wealth. But the current system makes a
flat out mockery of the term. We need to fight for a serious
overhaul of the electoral system—providing each candidate
on the ballot with a set amount to spend, equal time in the
media and equal access to the debates.
