Wow. . . Dot-com millionaire Steve Westly is putting a lot of his own money into his campaign for governor, and the flow of cash keeps coming. This memo came today from Westly's campaign. Westly is running against Treasurer Phil Angelides for the Democratic nomination:
"Today, Steve Westly made another personal investment in his campaign for governor -- $5 million. This brings his total contribution to $32.5 million.
"Steve Westly has said from day one that he would contribute the personal resources necessary to effectively share with the voters his vision for a brighter future for California. He's in it to win it. Period.
"In Steve Westly, Californians have a candidate who's put the money he earned at eBay into a cause he believes in, for the honor of leading a state he believes in."
Nick Velasquez
Press Secretary
Westly for Governor
It is strange that we now like foks putting their own money into a campaign: it shows they are honest and not beholden to special interests.
It used to be that folks felt they were "buying the office" and were Daddy Warbucks types who didn't understand us regular folks. With corruption at such a huge level, one must welcome this change of the landscape.
What...?! You're joking, right? He IS "buying the office"...!
All candidates that contribute their own money, are doing just that.
They know that if they are successful, they are in a much more financially lucrative position to benefit their commercial interests, as well as those of their compatriots; It's naive to think otherwise. Their in this race to push their own agenda as well as that of their "friends" and those that are successful at buying their attention; IE lobbyists.
It's like my father taught me...it takes a buck to make a buck.
The same is true of candidates that contribute their own money.
Ross Perot did it (and lossed!)
John Kerry did it (and lossed!)
George Bush did it (and won!)
Are we better off because of a candidate's ability to "buy an office"?
That depends HIGHLY on how humanitarian and selfless the candidate is.
The last time I checked, Mother Theresa's weren't running the country.