On the Right - Bush's economic policy; paradoxical current events; campaign fund ethics - Column

National Review, Nov 11, 2002 by William F. Buckley, Jr.

In California, the exact same story is being repeated, and it just happens that the profiteer on that scene, incumbent Governor Gray Davis, is a Democrat. Money pours in. In New York there is irony abounding because Democrats outnumber Republicans 3-2. But it is fair to generalize that nobody is very much concerned about these swollen gifts by manifest postulants for government preference. Only the Libertarian candidate, who is a mere cipher in the election, makes the point that the principal way to eliminate excess election spending is to limit patronage.

That isn't going to happen. Somebody is going to pick the contractors who build subways, and those somebodies are going to be appointed by the governor, so that the Kawasakis of this world are always going to find special strength and virtue in any incumbent governor, including Ivan the Terrible. Emphasis should be on reducing gross expenditures, which means: targeting television.

-Universal Press Syndicate