This Candidate Brought To You By. . .
The Corporate Candidate
One sure way to bring an end to a political campaign in America is for a candidate to run out of money. In years past,Newt Gingrich's campaign would be over. But Newt has a true high-roller backing his campaign, casino magnate Sheldon Alderson.
This trend, likely a side effect of the Citizen's United decision, is one that we're likely going to see continue. Wealthy individuals and corporation forming so-caller SuperPac's to back a candidate, that support will obviously come with a slight quid pro quo.
To me there's only one logical next step, and it's one I could see Gingrich or Santorum pursuing now, or some candidate in the future. That a person, or entity, via a SuperPac, to in a sense sponsor a candidate. Candidates putting up their own money to skirt fund-raising laws in nothing new, Scott Walker, with a little help from the Koch Brothers, did that in Wisconsin, but I don't think he expected that when the Koch's asked for a return on their investment that the people of Wisconsin would rise up the way they did.
The reasons for this sponsorship would be no different from why candidates are backed today. To advance or repulse and agenda; Exxon, etc would likely look to back a candidate to favor drilling and roll back conservation and alternative energy initiatives. McDonalds or Wal-Mart would likely back candidates opposed to workers rights to organize and efforts to increase the minimum wage. A businessman with fundamentalist tendencies would look to someone like Santorum, determined to roll back the gain made by women and homosexuals over the last thirty years.
The question is, how many voters would support this type of candidate?
