Down in the Polls
Why so much talk about campaign-finance reform?

March 27, 2001 11:45 a.m.

espite the Washington Post headline — "Poll Shows New Doubts on Economy; President's Tax Cut, Policy Are

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Questioned" — George W. Bush can take some real satisfaction in the paper's new poll on the performance and priorities of the new administration. To take one example, after months of Democratic criticism, just 36 percent of those surveyed say the president's proposed tax cut is too big. In contrast, 48 percent say it is about the right size — and 10 percent say it should be bigger. If those numbers are correct, then Bush is winning the Lexus war.

But it may be that one of the poll's most important findings has little to do with Bush, and very much to do with his bitter rival, John McCain. The Post's pollsters asked respondents to rank a number of issues in order of importance to them. And those surveyed by the Post ranked "reforming election campaign-finance laws" dead last among six choices. Less than half of those surveyed — 45 percent — rate it as a high priority, while 53 percent assign it a middle or lower rank. In contrast, 89 percent say the catch-all "keeping the economy strong" should be a high priority, and 63 percent say cutting taxes should be a high priority. (The Post did not include anything about campaign finance in its front-page article, but you can read the full results of the poll here).

The poll also shows that campaign-finance reform has dropped in the public's estimation since a similar survey taken in mid-January. Then, 20 percent of those polled said it should be the government's highest priority; now, that number is 18 percent. Then, 34 percent said it should be a high priority; now, that number is 26 percent. On the flip side, in January, 15 percent said it should be a low priority; now, that number is 20 percent.

"When you ask people to prioritize, when you ask them to make choices from a comparative list, that's when you find that campaign-finance reform has little political currency," says Republican pollster Kellyanne Fitzpatrick. "It's a third-tier issue that has been catapulted to the top of the agenda in Congress." The greatest reason for that, of course, is the determination, charisma, and media appeal of John McCain. But another factor is what Fitzpatrick calls the "feel-good phraseology" of campaign-finance reform. "It's right up there with term limits, the balanced-budget amendment, and school choice," she says, "words that seem to suggest both problem and solution in one sound-bite."

But the appeal of feel-good phraseology ultimately fades, and now there is even more evidence that the public doesn't believe campaign-finance reform is one of the nation's top issues. Given that, perhaps the Post should have asked another question: Should the United States Senate devote two full weeks of debate to campaign-finance reform?