There are few who will argue that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision has radically altered the political landscape. Most people recoil at the amount of money now being spent on behalf of candidates by millionaires and billionaires and by corporations that stand to benefit from having a politician or two on their payroll.
And then there are people like millionaire Terri Lynn Land, candidate for U.S. Senate and someone who has put nearly $2 million of her own money into her campaign. For Land, this purchased influence isn’t abhorrent. It’s “the American way” and “what’s great about our country”.
While Peters is disappointed in the recent Supreme Court rulings lifting the spending for organizations and businesses, Land says they protect free speech.Land mentioned her time working on the re-election campaign for President Gerald R. Ford.
“Back then there were all sorts of different ways they communicated messages, different groups did,” Land said in an interview with MLive. “And I think that’s the American way, that’s what’s great about our country, is everyone gets to have a voice and they can talk about the issues that are important to them. As candidates we need to talk about the issues that are important to the voters and that’s what we are doing.”
Terri Lynn Land’s “American way” differs considerably from the the “American way” most of us experience. In her America, you get to have a voice if you have enough cash to pony up.
I suppose in the circles Land runs in, that’s “everyone”.
