Chris Matthews was at it again last night on Hardball railing against the "Daddy Warbucks" influence in politics, insisting that wealthy super PAC donors like Sheldon Adelson were hoping to buy their preferred candidate in the GOP presidential primary. But an interesting thing happened during the segment when liberal guest Willie Brown, a former mayor of San Francisco, challenged Matthews's simplistic leftist lament about the "corrupting" role of money in politics.
In truth, Brown noted, big-money donors almost always give money to politicians who already share their ideology and/or policy views. It's patently absurd to insist that financial contributions alone dictate the stands politicians take because they have voters to consider and the influence of competing political interests. Indeed, Brown noted, Hillary Clinton switched her stance on TPP not so much because of moneyed business interests but because labor unions are a powerful voting bloc in Democratic primaries and insurgent candidate Bernie Sanders is a threat on her left flank in the primaries.
Here's the relevant transcript:
MSNBC
Hardball
Oct. 15, 2015; 7:24 p.m. EasternCHRIS MATTHEWS: So Mayor Brown, there we have a billionaire saying don't trust the billionaire contributors because they'll buy the candidates. At least if you buy me, you got me. For whatever he's worth. You got Donald Trump. And you don't have a bunch of other hangers-on that own the guy.
WILLIE BROWN: Well, let me tell you --
MATTHEWS: How about that appeal?!
BROWN: As having been a politician for a very long time and now no longer a politician, I can tell you that I think Trump is doing a disservice to all of us when he says there's total and complete control. Let me tell you, Chris, politicians are much smarter than that.
They will do their best in most cases to make sure that they get money from those resources that they are already advocating on behalf of in the views that they have. Whether they are the people who do the gun control or anti-gun control. Whether it's pro abortion or anti-abortion.
MATTHEWS: OK.
BROWN: All of those are things that politicians regularly do. The politician who gets caught simply doing what somebody who contributed to him said "Do" will lose his seat.
MATTHEWS: OK What was it Phil Burton or Jesse Unruh that said "If you can't take their money, drink their booze, sleep with their women, and vote against them in the morning, you don't belong in this business?
BROWN: And they were right. And it was in fact the late Jess Marvin Unruh.
MATTHEWS: What a wonderful statement with American politics. You can't trust them even when you buy them. I don't think that's true. And you've said word before this, Mr. Mayor, you made the point that they do want the money the next time. And they may not be nice people but they know if they don't make good on the money they got from some fat cat, some Daddy Warbucks, they won't get it from them the next time.
BROWN: And usually they don't attract the money unless there is an indication on the evaluation done by the donor that this individual is consistent with the donor's advocacy and with the donor's views. The donor who goes and talks to a politician and says I'll give you money if you vote this way, that's a bribe. And that's prosecutable.
MATTHEWS: So why did Hillary Clinton change her mind about the trade bill in the last week or two?
BROWN: I think she did so because she is now more knowledgeable.
[MATTHEWS laughs]
BROWN: She sees the implications and clearly organized labor and Bernie is giving her the path.
MATTHEWS: OK. Thank you very much for that real deft response. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. A real loyalist out there.
Matthews is many things, but a novice to politics is not one of them. He has to know Brown is right. Both parties have major donors who give money to politicians who generally accord to their ideology.
Guys like Sheldon Adelson are not so much seeking to "buy" a Republican in the primary field but stake out their money on the Republican whom he considers the mix of a) most in accord with his politics and b) most likely to secure the GOP nomination. The same thing happens on the other side of the spectrum with Democratic mega donors like Tom Steyer and George Soros, names which you won't hear Matthews denouncing as "Daddy Warbucks" of the Left.
