For just $6 per citizen, the face of political elections could change completely.

John Rauh, founder and president of Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR), brought this new and relatively controversial concept to Weston last weekend — and, in the process, created some converts to his cause.

Mr. Rauh, an advocate of public campaign funding, was in town last week to speak to the Kiwanis Club and students at Weston High School about campaign finance reform for elected federal officials.

A film crew from the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) was on hand to film the speech at the Kiwanis Club for a documentary it is developing on a subject that is gathering a great deal of national attention. ...“There are important issues facing this country. The challenges this nation and the world face are huge,” Mr. Rauh said.

“We need to attract the finest leaders we can, but the current private financing system is a real barrier, and only a tiny pool of people can raise the millions of dollars necessary to fund a campaign. We need to restructure that pool,” he said.

As a former candidate for the U.S. Senate, Mr. Rauh said he saw firsthand how leaders are picked, and was appalled. “Either you have access to money or you aren’t in the pool,” he said.

“Think of someone you know who would serve well in the Senate or House of Representatives. Then ask, does that person have the necessary resources or connections to run for that office? Most times they don’t,” he said.

Citing a Connecticut example, Mr. Rauh said it was unlikely that Ned Lamont would have been able to wage an effective primary campaign against Joe Lieberman, a powerful incumbent, if he didn’t have his own personal financial resources.

That is why Mr. Rauh said he started looking into public funding for candidates, where citizens rather than special and private interests would subsidize elections.

He applauded Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell for recently signing into law a bill for public funding for state elections. His goal is to see something like that for federal candidates.

Public funding
Under public funding, the federal government would provide all candidates who qualify for federal office — president, vice-president, Senate, and House — with adequate funds to run a credible campaign for election.

Those funds would come out of the federal budget, whether from the general fund or from revenue raised specifically to support public funding. Qualified candidates would not have to rely on private contributions from big donors to run a successful campaign.

Mr. Rauh believes public funding will truly restore the “integrity and vitality of our democracy by eliminating the profound influence of wealthy special interests on our national priorities,” he said.

The use of public funding would be voluntary. It would not restrict those who wish to use their own money or raise private money. What it does do is add an alternative for candidates who qualify so that they too have sufficient resources to communicate their views to the voters, Mr. Rauh said. “It makes it a level playing field.”

Just $6
By Mr. Rauh’s estimate, it would cost approximately $1.8 billion — or just $6 a citizen — to finance federal elections. In fact, the name of his Web site is www.just6dollars.org.

This is a small price to pay compared to the amount each citizen currently pays for “pork barrel projects” aimed at appeasing special interest groups, Mr. Rauh said.

“That number is about $200 per citizen. I am not saying we could cut pork out altogether, but it could be drastically reduced,” he added.

He believes most Americans are appalled by the current state of government and political corruption.

Campaign finance reform cuts across the board as a non-partisan issue, he said, and is reflected by the fact that four prominent former U.S. senators of different parties, Bill Bradley (D), Bob Kerrey (D), Warren Rudman (R) and Alan Simpson (R), are serving as honorary chairmen of Americans for Campaign Reform.

“Reform won’t come quickly. It will take a grass-roots effort, and there will be resistance because incumbents do not want their competition to get help with funding,” Mr. Rauh said. But he believes the time is ripe for change, which is why he is touring the country to get his message out.

One person who got the message was Weston First Selectman Woody Bliss, who heard Mr. Rauh at the Kiwanis Club meeting. “He’s a brilliant man. I was impressed with he amount of research he has done. He had a lot of in-depth answers,” Mr. Bliss said.

Mr. Bliss said public campaign funding makes sense to him because elected officials spend an inordinate amount of time fund-raising.

“It is demeaning for them to be begging for money, and a waste of time when they could be solving problems,” he said.

He also concurs that government at the federal level is beholden to special interests. “Lobbyists are important as educators on issues. But there is a fine line between educating and influencing a decision,” he said. “I believe elected officials are elected to do the people’s business, ergo they should be doing it.”

Mr. Bliss said he is appalled at the partisanship in Washington and negative campaign advertising. He believes rules could be set with public funding that could help ease that also. “You don’t want to infringe on First Amendment rights, but a system of election that focuses on negatives will eventually implode,” he said.

At the high school
Mr. Rauh’s plan also went over well at Weston High School. Teacher Jean Bennett arranged for him to speak with U.S. History and American Government students.

“I thought the student response to Mr. Rauh was excellent,” Ms. Bennett said.

“He raised their awareness of the inequities in our current electoral system and made some concrete suggestions for how to fix it. What really impressed them was when he asked them to think about someone they knew who would make a good candidate for public office. Then he asked them if that person could run for office, which he explained would cost upwards of $3 million to enter the race,” she said.

“His message — that voters have lost the elections to the special interest groups and we’ve limited our candidates to those with money or name recognition, was heard loud and clear,” Ms. Bennett said.

Conor Pfeifer, a senior at the high school, had not heard of Mr. Rauh before his appearance in Weston.

“I thought his plan would be very helpful in the political process and it would help people who don’t have a voice get across their ideas. It would also help candidates who are more qualified for the job get elected,” he said. “He was very helpful when we asked questions,” Conor added.

Rachel Kass, also a senior, said, “I thought it was very interesting and a good idea. I also think it might not work because the people in Congress would not want to do anything in any way that might sacrifice their jobs. But I loved the idea in itself, and if it worked, it would be revolutionary.”