I had a thought last night about what Democrats need

[betsuni]

3. When Democrats are accused of being corrupted by legal campaign contributions, I think of Teddy.

"In his first run for president, in 1904, Teddy Roosevelt and the Republicans were caught taking enormous corporate campaign contributions. The most radical of the era's famous progressive journalists argued privately that he should give them back. Roosevelt refused and argued that it was 'entirely legitimate to accept contributions, no matter how large,' provided they were freely given. Finally, under mounting political pressure, he signed a bill, written by his archenemy, 'Pitchfork Ben,' limiting contributions -- but lacking an enforcement mechanism." -- Steven Stoft, "Ripped Apart, How Democrats Can Fight Polarization to Win"

Teddy's right. Obama received a record amount of Wall Street contributions in 2008 and regulated Wall Street as he campaigned on, so Wall Street gave more money to Romney the next election. Democrats are not corrupted by freely given contributions and accusing them of being controlled by wealthy donors, billionaires, and oligarchs and so on is extremely polarizing and only helps Republicans.