A Recipe for Campaign Reform

Proposition 25 co-sponsor Tony Miller has written an unusually candid assessment of why the campaign finance reform measure was thumped so soundly in the March 7 election and offers a sensible formula for putting together a successful reform measure.

“Build a coalition,” Miller writes in his monthly reform newsletter. The sponsors should include the League of Women Voters, whose opposition to Proposition 25 undoubtedly contributed to its loss. “Keep it simple,” the former acting secretary of state adds. The more complex a measure is, the more there is to attack. Proposition 25, drafted primarily by Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz, was in fact overly complex.

Other parts of the Miller formula: Forget public campaign financing, put the measure on a fall general election ballot, not a primary ballot, and wait until the courts resolve the constitutionality of Proposition 208, a Miller-sponsored campaign reform initiative that won voter approval in 1996 but is not being enforced while it is being tested in federal court.

Another element in the failure of Proposition 25 was the strong turnout of conservatives attracted to the presidential primary in support of Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Conservatives generally oppose campaign finance reform, especially any measure that includes public financing of campaigns. Also cited by Miller in the defeat of Proposition 25 was the failure of reform crusader John McCain to mount a strong California campaign.

Miller’s formula for winning could serve as a template for state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), who says he will try to forge a campaign finance reform measure in the Legislature. Reform forces, with good reason, doubt that the Legislature will pass an acceptable program because lawmakers rely so heavily on California’s unrestricted campaign contributions.

But the tide is running in favor of reform. That’s what helped draw independents and Democrats to McCain’s campaign. Burton might overcome the skeptics if he can assemble the sort of coalition that Miller envisions. Any measure without strong support from reform forces is bound to fail in a statewide vote.