General Don Bolduc is a Republican running for the US Senate in New Hampshire. He seems like a solid guy who has some excellent ideas. I’m not entirely sure if they are his ideas, but there are people I like and trust that have endorsed him. But I can’t. One of his “ideas” is a dealbreaker.
Related: Speech Can’t be Funded with Public Money Unless Money…is Speech
The dealbreaker is free speech.
In an April 28th letter, issued by the campaign and signed by the candidate, one of Don Bolduc’s top priorities, if elected, is Election reform. And?
Election reform must begin with a constitutional amendment, overturn the Citizens United decision to prevent dark money, 100% transparency for all campaign spending, limit self-funding, prohibit lobbyists from raising campaign dollars, …
This is a left-wing talking point. The Democrat-Socialists are obsessed with it and, as I have often said, Republicans should run away from anything Democrats want that badly. Gen. Bolduc is running on it.
Running on what?
Empowering the government to define limits on free association (and political speech) under the false flag of campaign finance reform.
That the First Amendment protects some money (expended in support of an issue or a candidate) while other money used for the same purpose interferes with free and fair elections. And that incumbent politicians are the best filter for defining these things and establishing barriers to participation and punishments for refusing to comply.
The bugbear of choice in their debate is big corporate money, but that’s as big a lie as any ever told.
Democrats love giant multi-billion-dollar corporations who speak for them and belittle the issues and candidates they oppose. Like the MEDIA (and social media) corporations that agree with the left politically, from whom they get billions of dollars annually in free advertising, issues advocacy, in-kind campaign support, messaging monopolies, and high-profile attacks on political opponents.
To those anti-Citizens United folks, there is nothing at all corrosive about the amount of money involved or how or when this might influence issues or elections.
It never even comes up.
That is because the issue is not whether money is speech (it is) the matter before us is whose money is acceptable speech and when.
It is not about foreign money (which Democrats also love) because we have plenty of laws that still prohibit that.
It is not about corporate money because huge corporations that name themselves media can influence all the issues and elections they please, up to and throughout election night.
It is not even about removing the influence of big money or special interests (when they are not media) because big money can hire lawyers or lobbyists to influence politicians, elections, and issues at any time, anywhere. Before, during, or after an election, regardless of side-car issues like increased transparency (which are pursued to expose and intimidate donors on controversial issues the left opposes).
This is about the ruling class and incumbent politicians using government force to suppress some speech. And even with the best of intentions, the speech they suppress is always the speech they claimed they were trying to protect.
A constitutional amendment or any effort to “overturn Citizens United” is the Left-Wing’s talking-point to amend the First Amendment to the Constitution.
General Bolduc may be a solid guy with some great ideas, but this is too much to risk.
Note: A request for comment from the Bolduc campaign was unavailable at the time of publication. We will happily include any formal comment in a follow-up.
Related: Citizens United, Corporate Personhood & The Progressive Freakout (Part 2)