Long-time CBS news producer Don Hewitt describes the famous Kennedy/Nixon debate as the worst night in American political history.
Why? Because it was then politicians realized that they couldn’t win elective office without being on T.V. Since it takes lots of money to get on T.V., this has made politicians beholden to lobbyists and forces them to spend a huge amount of time fund raising.
Unfortunately, this is more true now than ever. Just take a look at who would be the greatest corporate beneficiaries under the proposed Energy and Medicare bills. Any coincidence that those companies are free-spending campaign contributors with an entrenched lobbyist network?
I think not.