Trump is America's Chance to Fix a Broken System Rachel Marsden | Oct 27, 2015
PARIS -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the party front-runner in most polls, has positioned himself as the one contender who can't be bought, and who is intent on making Washington a place less beholden to cash-flashing by special interests.
It's not the first time a candidate has campaigned at least partly on the basis of getting special-interest money out of Washington -- just the first time that someone in position to actually get elected has done so. Usually it's the kind of message that comes from fringe candidates who can safely claim that they won't ever touch lobbyist or donor cash because there isn't much chance that anyone would want to give them any.
Trump has broken a political omerta just by talking about money in politics. His public airing of the topic is the political equivalent of a mobster giving a PowerPoint presentation to police detailing shady dealings. There's an unspoken understanding among serious presidential contenders that you don't bring up campaign contributions in a debate. It can only result in everyone's closets emptied out and skeletons thrown everywhere. Typically, only the broke contenders engage in such talk -- and there's no danger of them making it far enough in the nomination process to have it become a centerpiece of discussion.
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It's not the first time a candidate has campaigned at least partly on the basis of getting special-interest money out of Washington -- just the first time that someone in position to actually get elected has done so. Usually it's the kind of message that comes from fringe candidates who can safely claim that they won't ever touch lobbyist or donor cash because there isn't much chance that anyone would want to give them any.
Trump has broken a political omerta just by talking about money in politics. His public airing of the topic is the political equivalent of a mobster giving a PowerPoint presentation to police detailing shady dealings. There's an unspoken understanding among serious presidential contenders that you don't bring up campaign contributions in a debate. It can only result in everyone's closets emptied out and skeletons thrown everywhere. Typically, only the broke contenders engage in such talk -- and there's no danger of them making it far enough in the nomination process to have it become a centerpiece of discussion.
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