Recent scandals have shed light on Washington's toxic triangle of special interest money, elections and governing. The fundamental flaw is our reliance on private donations for financing our congressional and presidential elections, a system that encourages corruption and alienates our citizens.

There is a strong case for proposals like more disclosure or a ban on lobbyist sponsored trips, but even the toughest lobbying reforms will only tweak the rules of the game, not change the game itself. More radical action is needed. The obvious solution is to replace the private financing system of federal elections with voluntary public financing.

I hesitate to guess how many hours I devoted to attending fundraisers during my 12 years in Washington. At the outset of my political career, I was not enamored with the idea of voluntary public financing. But times have changed, and so have I.

I have seen how the current system distorts our nation's agenda, undermines our democratic values, drives voters away from the polls and limits electoral competition.

Two problems arise from our current system, one rooted in reality and the other in perception. The reality is that private financing loosens a cascade of special interest money. The perception is that many Americans, or most, lack confidence in Congress or believe our system is corrupt. While this perception is unfair to the many good people in Congress, our democracy suffers nonetheless.

Miles away from the Beltway, Arizona and Maine have implemented public funding for state races, and polls indicate growing support across the country. In Maine, 75 percent of those elected to the legislature in 2004 rejected private money, freeing them from the endless pursuit of contributions. Five top Arizona officials were elected without taking a dime of special interest money.

Janet Napolitano, the recently elected governor of Arizona, said after her election, "I could spend my time talking with voters, not big contributors." Once in office, she said, "Lobbyists are not swarming around me."

The time has come for our Congress to seriously consider public financing of federal elections. With public financing, the power will be with voters, not special interests. When the cost of financing a campaign is not an intimidating obstacle, more of our most able leaders will run for office. Once elected, they will spend their time and energy attending to the nation's business instead of wasting their time on nonstop fundraising. And when Americans have greater confidence in our democracy, more will participate and more will vote.

To respect the First Amendment, public funding must be voluntary. Yet it still works. The key is to make sufficient public money available so that unknown candidates who qualify can compete. Election history shows that candidates who opt out of public funding, and spend more, will not have a meaningful advantage as long as their opponents are reasonably funded.

Nearly every day they are in office, current incumbents find it necessary to raise cash for their next election. Most find that aspect of their job demeaning. Nothing would please officeholders - and office seekers - more than the prospect of spending more time debating issues and focusing full-time on the public's business.

A healthy part of the American Dream has always been the notion that anyone can hold public office. Increasingly, candidates' qualifications are being measured by the size of their wallets, not the strength of their ideas. Voluntary public funding would once again allow Americans from every walk of life and income level to contemplate public service.

The surprise is that public funding is not expensive. For just $6 a citizen per year, our government can publicly fund all federal elections. That's a real bargain when you consider that pork-barrel projects alone cost every one of us more than $200 last year.

Financing federal elections with private money has led to apathy and alienation, if not corruption and fraud. Current lobbying reform proposals will do little to truly reform a system that encourages corruption, protects incumbents and alienates voters. Lobbying reform alone won't do the job, but public financing will.

(Warren Rudman, a former U.S. senator from New Hampshire, serves as an honorary chair of Americans for Campaign Reform, a Concord-based organization advocating voluntary public funding of federal elections.)