Bill Clinton set a record when he was in office for taking in corporate campaign money. (Bush has since broken that record.) And the corporations are now throwing their money at Hillary, and she's taking it. Obama is not, and neither is Edwards. Those corporate contributions show us who the corporate interests think will win, and who they hope will win. They would prefer a republican, because the republicans tend to do whatever they want. But if they can't get a republican in office, and they probably will not be able to, this time, then they throw their money at whatever democrat they think will win, so that they can have access to them after they're elected. It's basically bribe money, for special and easy access. When a candidate refuses to take the money, they are not then beholding to the donors to give them special access if they win the job. Hillary, however, has taken their money, and they will expect special access in return.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Barrack Obama has matched her in campaign contributions, yet most of his money came from individual voters who sent in small amounts of money to support him. That says a lot about who is backing him, and who he will be beholding to if he's elected. If Hillary did NOT take corporate money, she wouldn't have so much money to campaign with, because she can't raise it from the rank and file like Barrack can.
He claims he wants to fight the influence of the corporation on government, and people are responding to this message. That's good, but is he really able to do that if he gets elected? That's the real question for all of the democrats. He has a record of suing corporations and winning settlements as a trial lawyer, but how does that translate into fighting them as a politician? The answer is we don't know.
To me, the real question is: who do I believe will be willing and able to take on corporate influence for real? Obama has a long history of working to better the lives of regular people. He has worked in and around Chicago for years starting and running organizations that help people at the grass roots level. This tells me about his commitment. I believe it's real. He also tends to appeal to democrats, independents, and even some republicans because he does not use a lot of anti-republican rhetoric. He has a conservative personality and demeanor that makes it easy for him to get along with republicans, and we need a president who can overcome partisanship if we want any hope of making any real changes. Hillary antagonizes the republicans in a BIG way, and I don't believe they will work with her willingly. Edwards has taken such a strong anti-corporate line that he may find it difficult to work with the republicans as well. The fact that he was a trial lawyer against business tends to really stir up their animosity.
On the other hand, Bill and Hillary working together, could be a powerful force in Washington, in spite of all the republican hatred for them. I personally, however, think the nation would be better off with less partisanship. It's time to put away all this silly bickering, if that's possible, and start fixing the mess we've gotten ourselves into.
