I thought maybe I could get most everyone here upset with me

[Tom Rinaldo]

31. True

But, among other things, there has to be the political will to take on finance reform. And if the political status quo on both sides of the aisle depends on status quo funding - there will be no high profile political leadership willing and able to make the case to the American public for that reform in a compelling enough manner to bring about change in that direction. This is a battle that must be fought inside the Democratic Party as well as outside of it.

I will not use this thread to debate how many positives vs negatives the 2016 Sanders campaign advanced - but it did elevate and celebrate the role of individual small contributions in a political campaign - and made a strong case against the danger implicit - even if not always actualized - in a dependency by political figures on mega donors to finance election campaigns.

I liked that Sanders actually talked about PACS during his campaign, and how they collect (and obscure sources of) money to influence elections. We clearly need more discussion on the role that PACS play and how they should be regulated