Of The Big Fix, The Bagman Cometh And The American Political Scene Circa 2019

By Allan Jackson

Ever since the Supreme Court handed down Citizens United several years ago which has essentially allowed unfettered political contributions from who knows where there has been a steady stream of complaints about the role of money in politics. Some Democratic presidential campaign like the Warren and Sanders efforts have highlighted the overwhelming weight corporations and billionaires have over the political process. And something must be done about it, at least to curb the flow for now. Today though I want to deal with the rise of that money flow well before that Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates since it can be traced back at least to the 1980s if not before.

I was reading, or rather re-reading the late Hunter Thompson’s Generation of Swine mainly articles compiled from work he did for the San Francisco Examiner during that period and noted that in more than one piece he was hollering against the role of money in politics back then. His thesis is that sometime after Richard Nixon’s reelection in 1972 which cost in total, if you can believe this, 20-million dollar chicken feed today for maybe a small town mayor’s race, a new generation of politicians figured out that it was well-placed money targeted to particular audiences that won the day not some programmatic or ideological scheme. That would make a certain amount of sense since the role of parties, the hold of parties over the electorate has been severely eroded and it is essentially each candidate for him or herself.         

The funny thing about all this is that money has always played some role in politics but in the old days, the days of party machines when they controlled votes and patronage it was small time stuff. I remember Biff Walsh the old reporter at the State House in Boston for years telling me when I was starting out that when somebody wanted something, maybe a city contract they would have their courier, their bag man deliver the dough in small bills in a bag, a freaking lunch bag. Biff told a couple of memorable stories, one about how somebody’s bag man delivered the bag to the wrong John Kelly. Put twenty thousand right on the desk. Right or wrong Kelly that was the last that bag was seen and what was anybody to do about it since everybody was “on the take,” right door or wrong. The other story was how a member of the State Senate leadership took a fit when Bernie Walsh’s bagman delivered the cold hard cash in hand. Seems the guy was sentimental and refused to take the donation unless it was in the classic bag. Small time stuff but there you have it.

Of course now everything is done with mirrors and computers with every known organizational trick in the books. Super-Pacs and “interest” groups abound. Now for the upcoming 2020 elections well over a billion dollars will flow, mainly for media. And that is the rub. That is the point old Hunter Thomson was trying to make when he interviewed some bright young K Street lobbyists and dealmakers. Everything in a divided country is now targeted to a small portion of the population that might change its mind and the rest is so much wasted money and time. Sad but maybe Bernie or Elizabeth can turn things around if they get into the Oval Office.