[CatoRenasci]

I'm not so sure it's silly. I think it's significant that one of the largest sources of Tom's money was Indian Gambling interests. Sure, every politician takes money from special interests, but not $3 million.

I was frankly rather shocked to hear that Tom took that much from the Indians. I respected Tom, even if I didn't think he could win (I still don't) and was concerned about his inability to get along with his colleagues -- not a problem for his conservative principles, but perhaps a problem if he were governor. But on the basis that he was too conservative and not a team player, I didn't think he was a bad guy, just not the right guy right now.

However, I think the issue of Indian Gaming, as a special interest with tons of money to throw around, is a real potential, if not actual, corruption issue.

[Sabertooth]

First, McClintock didn't take $3 million from the Indians, almost all of it was spent by them independently.

Second, Schwarznegger took in millions from developers, and has plans to sell some of California's landed assets. I'm actually in favor of some form of divestiture, but the possibility for the purchase of access is clear.

Third, Schwarznegger has made large loans to his campaign, and the fundraisers to pay them back won't happen until after the election.

So, to my eye, some of the umbrage over campaign finances has been a bit selective.

I'm pretty lassez faire on campaign finance: I like immediate public disclosure of donors, unlimited contributions, unlimited spending, no public financing, no foreign money, and no loans.