If money rules American politics, as we constantly hear from some quarters, you sure couldn’t tell from the stunning upset in the Maryland governor’s race (which I saw coming, having had a good chance to watch as a local resident and citizen volunteer.) Here’s blogger/Republican consultant Mark Newgent:
Anthony Brown lost despite outspending Larry Hogan by $15 million and with the aid of two Super PACs. Hogan took public financing. The Maryland gubernatorial race shows that no amount of money can change a bad message — or overcome a lack of message. The Maryland Democratic Party screamed like banshees over the Citizens United decision yet bit their collective tongue when their candidate availed himself of the very “dark money” they pretend to abhor. That Brown supporters Ben Cardin, Barbara Mikulski, and Donna Edwards all supported amending the First Amendment to allow Congress to regulate speech reveals that [some] Maryland Democrats don’t dislike money in politics — they dislike the opposition’s money in politics.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group alone said it would pour $500,000 in outside money into attacking Hogan. That had no visible effect, and it was worth putting up with the ads for the sake of getting a governor who certifiably owes nothing whatever to Michael Bloomberg.
We now return you to the regularly scheduled rants about how American democracy cannot possibly survive the free-speech guarantees of Citizens United.
