A troubling bit of information comes from Glenn Greenwald over at Unclaimed Territory.

His post details the appearances of Edwards and Clinton at the AIPAC meeting in New York. Here's what's troubling as Glenn describes it

Then, the Sun emphasized how vital it was for presidential candidates to attract contributions from New York Jewish groups generally, and how such contributions (as is true for all interest groups) are available only to those candidates who support those groups' so-called "pro-Israel" agenda: A Democratic political consultant who worked on President Clinton 's re-election campaign, Hank Sheinkopf, noted that the Aipac dinner always draws a parade of politicians.

New York is the ATM for American politicians. Large amounts of money come from the Jewish community," he said. "If you're running for president and you want dollars from that group, you need to show that you're interested in the issue that matters most to them."

And, according to the Sun, what do presidential candidates have to do in order to ensure access to "the ATM for American politicians" -- the "large amounts of money from the Jewish community" in New York? What is the "issue that matters most to them"? Belligerence towards Iran:

Indeed, how to deal with Iran is likely to be the next majority foreign policy conundrum the 2008 presidential candidates face.While Mr. Edwards and Mrs. Clinton have different positions on how to deal with the Iraq war, each has used harsh language on Iran.

The Sun also highlighted how vital (what it calls) "the circuit of influential Jewish donors" is to Hillary Clinton specifically:Mrs. Clinton, who has opted out of the public campaign financing system, has tapped into the circuit of influential Jewish donors for years and has strong support in the community. A spokesman for Aipac, Joshua Block, said yesterday that the senator and former first lady has "an extremely consistent and strong record of support on issues that are important to the pro- Israel community.""She is an extraordinary leader on those issues in the United States Senate," he said


So....this then becomes "the house that Jack Built"...in American politics.
You need mega dollars to run

Those have the money also have "issues"

To get the money from those who have it you need to make their issues YOUR issues.

If you get elected, THEIR ISSUES which you have made YOUR ISSUES become NATIONAL ISSUES.

NATIONAL ISSUES BECOME POLICY

And sometimes, policy becomes war......

Tell me again why we don't need public financing of political campaigns. McCain-Feingold was watered down so badly that it was ineffective in taking big $$$ out of the political system. I'm not sure that's there is any way short of public financing that we can be assured that our politician are elected on the basis of their positions and not on the positions of those who contribute to their campaigns.

Some time ago a District Federal Court ruled that Money=free speech. Bullshit!