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COMMENTARY Jeffrey Gillespie: Buying the presidency Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Apr. 17, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Apr. 17, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News As Hillary Clinton heads off toward 2016 in her humble black van, in a naked attempt at suggesting that she somehow has middle-class values at heart, I'm left wondering just how stupid the American public has to be in order to swallow such a shallow and obvious approach. The cost of a presidential run has never been higher. Clinton's effort, by her own estimates, may top out at $2.5 billion from start to exhausting finish. In the meantime, Ted Cruz and his wife, Heidi, are asking for $500,000 each from their top donors, which will get you dinner at their home once a quarter between now and the end of his run. his or her plate. When the Supreme Court came out "in favor" of free speech by ruling for Citizens United in 2010, it managed to quash most every American voice but for the very wealthiest and their SuperPAC proxies, and the dollars are starting to roll in with a vengeance. A huge share of the cash will go into television attack ads. It will also go to field operatives, data consolidation and opposition research. Over a period of almost two years, these structures (and the money and lobbyists supporting them) will have the effect of pushing out any dissenting voices in the political arena. Private funding will have turned the once-revered American democratic process into a coronation event wherein the richest campaigners always win. To give you some idea of how out of control the process has become, let's look at the campaign of 1960. Back then, the most expensive ticket to a fundraiser for John F. Kennedy came in at $100, or about $800 in 2015 dollars. A few years later, at another JFK birthday fundraiser, the price was the same, and it got you entertainment from Jack Benny, Bobby Darin, and Marilyn Monroe, who famously sang for her supper. This year, a fundraising dinner with Jeb Bush will cost you $100,000 a plate. Writing a check that big for one night out should leave even the most jaded billionaire hoping against hope that Bush can carry a tune. Meanwhile, nearly 50 million people are on food stamps. Only those who live in the financial economy could fathom, let alone accommodate, the price of admission to what is now the most exclusive of "democratic" processes. Clinton, in her first outing to Iowa as candidate this week, was keen to discuss campaign finance reform. We have truly lost the plot if someone with a $2.5 billion dollar war chest can sit in front of an audience of ordinary Americans and call the system “dysfunctional," saying she would favor an amendment to the Constitution to rid politics of what she terms “unaccountable money.” It's rather like Hannibal promising that he'll eschew elephants —  no really, he will — just as soon as he's finished crossing the Alps. Presidential elections are now a slave auction for plutocrats. A few voices of integrity, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have put forth valiant attempts to overturn the ruling that has made all of this possible, but it won't happen anytime soon. If and when it does, it's likely we will already have the most expensive retail politician in history serving his or her first term in the Oval Office. That's not freedom and democracy. That's graft of the highest order, and it's got to be stopped. Jeffrey Gillespie's writing has appeared in the Santa Fean and Art Collector magazines, the Portland Mercury and Willamette Week. He lives in Ashland. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Apr. 17, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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