Despite the election of America’s first black president and its first female presidential nominee, a top Democrat on the Federal Election Commission charged that rich white male campaign donors are blocking women and minorities from public office.
In a speech to foreign election observers, Ann Ravel also said that campaign finance loopholes threaten to undermine the country.
Her pre-election address to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems was just posted by the organization. In it she said Americans are turned off to voting because of the high amounts spent especially on Super PACs.
She then described the donors. “Notably, the most prolific donors to Super PACs are overwhelmingly white and male, even though the voter eligible population in this country is at its most diverse in our history,” said Ravel.
“I’m not so troubled by the money, per se. What I think is troubling about it is that the vast majority of campaign funds comes a tiny highly unrepresentative segment of people who then wield disproportionate power. And they certainly, together with corporate interests, have much greater influence on public policy,” she said.
Ravel later blamed those donors for blocking the paths of minorities and women to office.
“Something like 98 percent of Super PAC money comes from white men. What that means is women, minorities can’t even run, it cuts them off as even being viable candidates and as a result in this country, we have only 20 percent of women in the Senate, 18 percent in the House of Representatives, we have very few women governors and women in state legislatures, and the same is true for minorities,” said Ravel.
She added, “There is no access to funding for those people because don’t have those wealthy people who are giving them money.”
In the past elections, both President Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton raised record amounts of campaign cash.
While she spoke right before November’s election, Ravel expressed concern about the process.
“This election has been extraordinary to say the least, in many ways. But extraordinary doesn’t describe what I believe is the takeaway from this campaign, and that is, in many ways, but also with regard to campaign finance issues, how vulnerable this country is to the undermining of our democratic institutions,” she said.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
