OUR PERMANENTLY POLLUTED POLITICS

This year's session of the Missouri General Assembly barely addressed the one issue that has proved so disillusioning to today's public: the connection between money and politics. State lawmakers, however, are no less diligent than their federal counterparts in the circumspect balancing act of walking both sides of the street, accepting large amounts of cash while at the same time deploring the practice.

As might be expected, there is less embarrassment about this political straddling in the nation's Capitol than exists in Jefferson City. Because the stakes are higher and hard evidence is often elusive, our national politicos seem especially vulnerable to charges of duplicity, which in no way makes our state's elected officials any less vulnerable. Indeed, despite contradictory historical evidence, there is more likelihood federal reforms will be enacted than state safeguards.

This makes the need for Missouri action no less imperative, however, simply because corruption can and does exist at any level of governance, and it may well be that the most damaging arena would occur in areas that most affect our daily lives, namely within our own state. There is far less interest and expressed concern over the infusion of huge amounts of money in the political process at the state level than exists in Washington. Even Bill Clinton, who drank deeply of campaign cash that, if not tainted was certainly suspect, voices concern.

In Jefferson City, officials pay allegiance to campaign honesty and reform as if by rote. There is little evidence of real concern or any suspicion that some candidates may someday support needed changes embedded in the current campaigns of Missouri.

In session after legislative session, a handful will rise to the occasion, offering their versions of how candidates should perform and how campaigns should be run. A casual hearing, some missing committee members, a declaration of the need for further study and promises of more meetings that never materialize are part of the gamesmanship practiced in Missouri. Save for a couple of states, including Maine, little serious effort is ever attached to wringing the excessive cash out of the political process. This is certainly true in our state.

The feeling that our political system is badly broken, and remains so because of the nefarious influence of money, goes back at least to the demagogic rhetoric of the seventh U.S. president, Andrew Jackson, though the sentiment was present in various, inchoate forms even before. More disturbing, perhaps, is that efforts to fix the problem have often had the effect of making things worse -- or at least making them bad in a different way. Crusades and reforms intended to cleanse the political process have only served to inspire politicians and those who would influence them to develop more imaginative ways of raising and contributing money.

As recently as 1994 Missouri had two campaign reform laws on the books, one provided by the General Assembly and the other originating from a group that apparently could not recognize the difference between the feasible and the impossible. After various court rulings, not to mention various disabling revisions by legislators, Missouri has few realistic, enforceable rules that will guarantee honesty or accountability in its campaign process. Even existing rules are sometimes ignored.

As much as this fact is lamented by those who take part or take profit from the electoral process, there is no evidence that these players are interested in changing anything and certainly not reversing the status quo. And there will continue to be little interest as long as the public, lethargic as ever, chooses to stew in its revulsion of campaign contributions for personal/political/power-seeking purposes.

The legislative session ending in May saw only a small number of bills that even touched on reform. One of these even reversed the previous limits on storing campaign cash. Mel Carnahan, whose campaign coffers were nearly four times larger than his last opponent, has hardly been a strong proponent for change. Furthermore, there is already evidence that next year's campaign for a U.S. Senate seat will be the most expensive off-year election in the state's history, and both of the suspected candidates are already raising money to buy support.

Missouri's political pollution has become so putrid that most voters now pretend they can't even smell the effluence.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.