The "advice and consent of the Senate," prescribed by the Constitution for presidential appointments, is a process that now includes advertisements against the nominee on cable news networks. (A conservative group is airing ads on CNN and Fox News attacking the ethics of Chuck Hagel.)
Political opposition to nominees is not new in our history, but it is worth considering the role of campaign-style ads aired by an independent group in a nomination fight. The mechanism for these ads to be effective is for the constituents of vulnerable Senators to contact them and express their dissatisfaction with Hagel. This may or may not have an impact on any Senator or the ultimate outcome in this case, but this case does illustrate the ability (and likelihood) of independent spending on ads to spill over from elections onto individual issues.
One impact can be greater public participation on issues, which you may or may not like. Another is the introduction of the familiar distorting effects of money and its tendency to be concentrated on one side of an issue. (The Hagel case is likely an exception to that dynamic, but issues like gun control and climate change are not.)
No comments:
Post a Comment