“…unwillingness to support limits on campaign finance in races other than his own”
ANCHORAGE — Dan Sullivan’s endorsement of Citizens United, corporate personhood, and unlimited corporate spending in elections was called out by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and pinned as a contradiction and another attempt to score political points.
An editorial in yesterday’s News-Miner highlights Sullivan’s endorsement of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision and points to an inability to “square” the spirit of the scheme with Sullivan’s “unwillingness to support limits on campaign finance in races other than his own.”
‘Alaska Agreement’ good theory, flawed practice: The campaign funding reform issue shouldn’t be tackled piecemeal
Posted: Sunday, June 15, 2023 12:05 am
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner editorial:
“Also undercutting Sullivan’s intention of giving local voices more weight in political campaigns is his stance in support of the U.S. Supreme Court’s well-publicized decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which prohibited the government from restricting campaign spending of the szort he would seek to limit in his current race.
The disharmony between Sullivan’s stances on political campaigns in general and the specific race he is running this fall is peculiar, and doesn’t support his stated intentions in seeking the agreement.
We agree that elections, especially recent ones, have become longer, more expensive, and dirtier affairs than is beneficial to healthy political discourse, and that the sentiment of Sullivan’s “Alaska Agreement” is worthwhile.
We should seek to have more local voices and issues represented in political races at every level of government.
But we can’t square that intention with the facts of how this year’s Senate race is being conducted — and with Mr. Sullivan’s unwillingness to support limits on campaign finance in races other than his own.”
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