Wednesday, August 14, 2002

I congratulate The Citizen for publishing a front-page article [July 31] which disclosed the campaign contributions and expenditures of each of our five candidates for county commissioner. This information is usually hidden in file folders at the Board of Elections office, and it stays hidden there unless an enterprising reporter digs it up and reports on it.

This year's reports have one flaw. Their cutoff date was June 30, and some more money has undoubtedly come in since then. Our late primary this year allows a bit of a loophole. However, all contributions of $1000 or more must be reported within 48 hours of being received, so there may be some more reports worth looking up before Election Day (Aug. 20).

Wise voters will always ask themselves the question, why did this person give what he or she gave to that candidate? It might be useful to go over some of the possible reasons.

Some of the contributions may come from the candidate himself. They usually appear as a loan, and if the campaign has a surplus in the end, that surplus is used to repay whatever part of the loan it can.

Some of the contributions come from relatives and from very good friends who have "disposable" funds. Other contributions come from people who dislike a candidate's opponent, under the theory that the candidate, as an enemy of my enemy, is my friend.

Occasionally, we have a patriotic contributor who feels sorry that both candidates in a race have to spend so much money to present themselves and their message to the public, so he makes a contribution to both candidates. When that happens, the candidates often receive equal amounts. Sometimes, however, the contributor is just hedging his bets as he seeks to curry favor with whatever candidate gets elected. It is like buying insurance.

This year, we saw a home builder developer contribute $1000 to an incumbent commissioner and $500 to his opponent. It'd be interesting to see an explanation for that.

Contributions are sometimes squeezed out of people who have obtained work through politicians. Lawyers and engineers are exposed to that, as they are often hired to perform paid professional work for a government agency, and later the elected officials responsible for their being hired may suggest, perhaps very diplomatically, that a campaign contribution might be a suitable expression of gratitude.

Contributions are sometimes made by people who plan on asking for a favor later. They are just positioning themselves. Some of the candidates might not even know what the contributor is planning. One must watch out for that kind of contribution and its potentially corrosive effect on good government.

Contributions by candidates to their own campaign are normal, but when they get excessive one may properly wonder why the candidate seeks to "buy" the office. Perhaps it's just a matter of having a lot of money and a big ego.

It's a good thing The Citizen is reporting campaign contributions, and I hope this will be a regular event from hereon. The Citizen might perhaps assist its readers, in its editorial pages, with some analysis and interpretation, where possible, of the motivation for some of these contributions. That's the most fascinating part.

Claude Y. Paquin

Fayette County

cypaquin@msn.com

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