In today's New York Post former Democratic Senator from Nebraska, Bob Kerrey, offers crocodile tears over the hypocrisy of Democrats on the issue of campaign finance reform.
ON the question of public funding of presidential campaigns, we Democrats who strongly support Sen. Barack Obama's candidacy and who previously supported limits on campaign spending and who haven't objected to Obama's opting out of the presidential funding system face an awkward fact: Either we are hypocrites, or we were wrong to support such limitations in the first place.
The next time we speak of the virtue of level playing fields or state our strong belief that democracy can't survive in the modern age unless big money is taken out of campaigns, we'll be counting on our audience's forgetting our silence this year, when the free market was flowing in our direction.
A hypocrite is a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue – who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. And that, it seems to me, is what we're doing now.
When it comes to hypocrisy, it might be quicker to point out where Democrats are not hypocrites…
There. I think I've covered all of them.
Senator Kerrey closes,
So maybe I was simply wrong about placing limits on spending and providing public monies in exchange for adhering to these limits. Of course, it's possible that I'm making a virtue out of a necessity – since my candidate is now winning in part because, by opting out of the system, he has more money to spend.
In the short term, I'm sad to report that hypocrite is a more accurate label. In the long term, perhaps this will be the moment that causes me to change my views. It certainly feels better than remaining a hypocrite forever.
I doubt that it will take long for Senator Kerrey to come around. Democratic purposes in supporting campaign finance reform were to counter a fund raising advantage traditionally held by Republicans. Now that this election has demonstrated that such advantages can be overcome, I'm sure the Senator will rediscover the advantages of free speech.
Libertarian Leanings 