It is understandable that congressmen like Mike Rogers, R-Saks, and Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, would start political action committees to help finance campaigns of like-minded colleagues in their party.It serves as a booster to their own political ambitions, giving them a chance to move up the leadership ladder in Congress. Committee chairmanships are the prize, and Rogers and Davis are just expected to follow suit.
They’ll raise money for their own re-election bids but aside from that, they will raise funds for party candidates across the country, hoping to catch the eye of party leadership for expanded roles for themselves.
We understand it. But we don’t like it.
It is simply further sign of a broken political system, where congressmen have to raise money to buy their way into leadership posts.
In a perfect system, Rogers and Davis would simply rely on their own political and leadership skills and their experience to achieve their goals. They would reach across aisles for support, and they would work their way into those chairmanships because they deserve them, not because they raised more money.
But the system continues to win out.
“When our leadership looks at folks for committee chairmen and leadership posts, that is a big factor they look at,” Rogers said of the PAC fundraising.
Davis, who is considering starting a PAC of his own for similar purposes, said, “…it gives you extra funds to support candidates around the country, and it gives you some extra funds to use toward paying your dues requirements.”
They’re not the first to subscribe to the theory. We certainly understand that, but it doesn’t mean we have to agree with it.
The practice won’t go away until there are systemic changes, and we hope that one day that will indeed be the case.
