The need for publicly financed campaigns for seats in the General Assembly has seldom been greater. With record sums likely to be spent on Senate and House of Delegates races next year, the influence of big donations on the legislature never more obvious, and some high-profile Maryland politicians under criminal investigation, one might assume support among legislators would be overwhelming.
But the chronically delusional are not so easily swayed. Public financing died late in the last legislative session through a combination of tactical error (a Senate bill that was fatally amended by opponents on the floor) and misconceptions over the proposal that may have muted support for reform.
The former is easy enough to correct, and today, public financing supporters will unveil their antidote to the latter: A statewide poll that shows Marylanders think big-money has a corrupting influence in Annapolis and that a major shake-up is the best solution.
Lawmakers would be wise to listen. For too many years, they've been telling themselves that voters don't care much about the issue and that people are more likely to raise a fuss at any attempt to spend taxpayer dollars on political campaigns - especially in the midst of a recession.
But the poll conducted by Gonzales Research & Marketing on behalf of Common Cause and Progressive Maryland found neither myth holds up on inspection. Three-quarters of Marylanders reportedly think big contributions have a corrupting influence, and even when reminded of the state budget deficit and recession, nearly two-thirds still support public financing.
That really should not come as any surprise. Not only is Baltimore's mayor being prosecuted on charges of failing to disclose thousands of dollars in gifts from a city developer, but one of the legislature's highest ranking Democrats, Senate Budget & Taxation Chairman Ulysses S. Currie of Prince George's County, remains under federal investigation for his actions on behalf of a supermarket chain.
High-profile decisions in which big-monied interests have had a stake - the deregulation of electricity and the legislation authorizing slot machines to mention just two from recent years - have added an urgency to the issue. It defies reason to assume voters would see nothing wrong with accepting millions of dollars from monied interests.
