Choice 3: What does it really help?

[Nancy Thomas <thomasn@cdnet.cod.edu>]

I can't see any merit in choice three. A challenging newcomer candidate wouldn't necessarily benefit from unlimited campaign funding. Probably the reverse would be true because an incumbent has already made connections to the money people. I really think that there needs to be more to campaign finance reform: campaign reform. I would like to see limits on the amount of time spent on campaigning. I would also like to see a cap on the money that can be spent on a campaign. For example, a House candidate (incombent and challenger alike) could spend $250,000 per campaign; Senate candidates could spend $500,000 since they have to cover the whole state; presidential candidates could spend $5 million to cover the entire country. The media should provide equal amounts of free air time for all candidates. The political parties should raise the money for the campaigns of their candidates, not allow undisclosed groups to put up negative ads with no accountability.