Bill Bradley on campaign fund raising

[BOSSHOG]

Heard him on NPR this week. He opines that with the money Obama and Clinton are raising they'll no doubt waste a lot of it. Hiring consultants they don't need, buying commercial time that won't help them just because they have the money. And most likely surround themselves with people who will want to spend the money just because they have it.

No opinion on my part but it is an interesting take.

[waiting for hope]

1. Bill Bradley has had some wise words

in the past...My money is behind Edwards, he doesn't need 15 spin masters to review his words before he opens his mouth.

[Schema Thing]

2. cuz he can check the political wind just fine with his own damn finger

...like he did with respect to the Iraq war and the patriot act.

[Raven]

3. Probably true.

They could feed a lot of hungry people with that loot! Oh, by the way, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! :-)

[BOSSHOG]

4. Thank You My Friend

It really is sad. These guys running around raising money and folks in New Orleans damn near have to beg to get a few thousand bucks to help fix their hurricane destroyed lives.

On the other hand, if(when) a dem gets in the white house with a solid majority in congress we all should be better off, so maybe its money well donated.

[sasha031]

6. I see it as the wealthy buying politicians for a change

what a sick system we have and yes there is allot of good that could be done with that cash.

[BeyondGeography]

5. I don't see my guy doing that

but everyone's entitled to their own opinion, especially Dollar Bill (his nickname from his bonus baby NY Knick days).

[BOSSHOG]

7. I think its pure fiscal logic

I doubt candidates are going to save the money and there will be many on the staff with "great" ideas on what to spend it on. In most instances, (political or not) the more money you have the more you will spend, whether you need what you are spending it on or not.

Dollar Bill is how Rep Bill Jefferson is known in New Orleans. He of the 100K in the freezer.

[BeyondGeography]

9. I love Bradley...love him

I'm old enough to remember him in short-shorts (see below). This doesn't deal with the OP, but here's what he says about Obama:

Q: Which Democratic candidate do you find the most impressive?

A: Right now, I suppose Obama is extremely impressive to me. He is in a cultural skyrocket, a vertical ascent.

Q: But doesn’t that contradict your argument? Couldn’t he be seen as coasting on charisma?

A: It’s not just charisma, because he has touched something very deep that had been waiting to be touched for a long time — returning idealism to a central focus of our politics. I tried to touch it in 2000 and didn’t make it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/magazine/25WWLNQ4.t.html?ex=1175918400&en=f80cc9268ceb540b&ei=5070

[patrice]

8. Don't you think that even those who are just marginally paying any

attention to what is going on, no matter what side they're on, are developing the perception that "Political consultants caused a lot of this trouble", i.e. they're paid to say what they say and THAT'S the problem.

[karynnj]

10. I saw Bradley Saturday and got his book at a book signing

Bradley lived in my county in NJ before he ran for the Senate, so there were many people there who knew him. My huband got a grin out of him when our book was signed by mentioning that his grandfather had taken him (when he was 12) to see a Princeton/ Michigan State game where Bradley played. He was a very nice guy and he signed a huge number of books at a very pleasant bookstore.

His comments were pretty brief there - he did speak of a tool that will in "a few years" be available where you can querry the Budget to see what is there for any item, then see things like how the provisions changed, who voted for it - then look further to see which companies gave money. He spoke of the need for better oversight.

A friend of ours, who is very active in Democratic politics spoke of having been in a group of Democrats who met with Bradley while he still played basketball. They wanted him to run locally. He wisely didn't - saying it was better to run statewide rather than in a very Republican county.