Dems come a'courting, uh huh

They're saying Democrats are courting the party's left wing. There's a big todo because Jerome Armstrong of My DD got a job as a political consultant. We'll see what comes of that, but here's the money quote that sums up what's wrong with today's political picture.

Still, if recent history is a guide, the winner of the Democratic primary will be decided more on the power of the purse than the power of the left. ''It isn't just camps and ideas that get the competition," said Rob Stein, founder of Democracy Alliance.

''As we get closer to the primary season, it's who can raise the money."

The hands-down winner on that score, even her critics concede, could well be Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I've said for months on end that Clinton would be a disaster. Early polling shows she would be a polarizing candidate but the high paid consultants think they can triangulate her with centrists that don't exist in the present day environment. Worse yet, Kerry is waiting in the wings, accumulating his war chest in the hopes of turning his also-ran status into a run again comeback. He also stands a chance to get it. He's got a lot of cash. Another disaster in the making.

Until we stop awarding the running slots to the highest bidder, nothing is going to change. It's time to consider public financing of candidates and limiting paid political campaigning to a few weeks before the election. It would open the process up to more candidates and take the fundraising aspect out of the equation.