Rich Candidates

Your April 12 editorial regarding wealthy candidates funding their own campaigns for statewide office raises the operative question. Is it better for candidates to self-fund their campaigns in order to free them from the appearance of special interest influence?

Perhaps it is less offensive for candidates to buy office with their own money rather than with tobacco, insurance or other special interest money. But elections that are for sale are not free. That is true whether they are purchased by candidates directly with their money or with special interest money.

We must find a way to give every candidate the ability to reach voters with his or her message without relying on big money. Candidate statements and photographs in ballot pamphlets, as mandated by the now blocked Proposition 208, are one way to do that. So are Web sites, which are increasingly used by voters to obtain candidate information. It is also time to restore the fairness doctrine so that no candidate or measure campaign can dominate the broadcast media.

TONY MILLER

Proposition 208 Co-Author

Pleasant Grove, Calif.