理想と現実

アメリカの中間選挙から１週間経ってしまいました。Lessig教授の試みを期待していたのですが、まあ、予想通りというか金権政治の前に無残な結果となってしまったようです。

Larry Lessig’s Mission to Reclaim Democracy
Philip Davidson The Nantucket Project @Nantucketproj Oct. 24, 2014
How the MayDay Super PAC hopes to revolutionize campaign finance

According to Lessig, the outcome of many Congressional elections are decided ahead of the vote by a tiny fraction of the population – the donors who give to Super PACs.

In order to combat the undue influence of these political-action committees, Lessig took an unusual step earlier this year. He formed a Super PAC of his own.

Lessig’s MayDay Super PAC is funding candidates in this year’s midterm elections who have pledged to support campaign finance reform. Lessig is not attempting to change the system overnight. Instead he hopes to influence the outcome of a handful of elections this year with the hope of translating limited electoral success into a movement that will be a major force in 2016.

「毒をもって毒を制す」という発想で自らスーパーPACを立てたものの、当選した候補者はわずか２人だけだったようです。

Paul Blumenthal Become a fan
Mayday PAC Lost Nearly All Its Races This Year, But Refuses To Concede Defeat
Posted: 11/06/2014 5:27 pm EST Updated: 11/06/2014 5:59 pm EST

WASHINGTON -- Nearly every effort by Mayday PAC to elect a candidate who favored campaign finance reform in a contested race fell flat on Tuesday.

The super PAC to end all super PACs, established in May 2014, was highly successful in raising money but much less so in targeting races it could win. The group reported making $7.5 million in independent expenditures across eight races this year. It won just two.

“It was a tough night across the board for supporters of reform, but we’re glad we engaged in this fight," said Mayday's founder, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, in a statement. "The fight to root out corruption in our politics is one of the most important in our time and we will continue to pursue it with fierce urgency,” he vowed.

同じように、環境問題に熱心な候補者も私費を投じたものの、莫大な資金力を前に敗北したという記事がフィナンシャルタイムズにありました。この記事ではKoch Brothersなど共和党系のスーパーPACの資金力がグラフになっていてわかりやすいです。

November 7, 2014 4:02 pm
Green money loses billionaires’ battle in US elections
Barney Jopson in Washington

The first big-money drive to inject climate change into US elections fell flat this week as a green-minded billionaire’s support for Democrats was neutralised by the conservative Koch brothers and voter dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama.

In a striking defeat, Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, spent at least $57m to promote action on climate change, but saw his ambitions scuttled by voters’ economic unease and a fossil-fuel industry that blamed stagnant wages on environmental red tape.

The result underlines a challenge faced by climate-friendly politicians in many countries where citizens – like the majority of Americans – say they support action on climate change, but rank it far below their immediate economic interests as a voting priority.

Lessig教授の熱いスピーチを見る限り、そんなに簡単にはあきらめないのではないでしょうか。今後に期待したいですね。