Illinois' Scott Lee Cohen Lesson: Super Rich People Shouldn't Be Allowed to Buy Elections Any More Than Corporations

BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White

I imagine commentators all around the nation are looking at the Illinois lieutenant governor's race and shaking their heads, saying, "Only in Chicago could a guy who dates and threatens prostitutes, takes illegally-obtained steroids and tries to sexually assault his ex-wife win the Democratic nomination."

But I request a revision. The phrase should be, "Only in America."

The truth is, the disgraced Scott Lee Cohen, who used the Superbowl as a cloak of darkness under which to announce he's pulling out of the November elections, is fundamentally no different than Carly Fiorina or Michael Bloomberg. Their only real qualification for office is their money.

In a bizarre and painful-to-watch press conference at a bar on Chicago's far northeast side last night, Cohen announced his withdrawal, as his pre-adolescent son sat sobbing into the microphones lined up in front of his father.

The sad fact is that this whole ugly scene could've been avoided. Many of these uncomfortable details about Cohen's life were publicly available, published in the Chicago Sun-Times back in 2009. (Sorry for the lack of links here. The Sun-Times stupidly removes all of its archives shortly after publishing, so almost nothing is available online.)

In Cohen's case, it seems all the money he saved by not paying his taxes, water bills, child support, or getting his buildings up to code paid off in electoral victory. Cohen reportedly spent $2.5 million on the race, far out-stripping his many opponents in the Democratic primary.

Cohen magically transformed his image to that of a green entrepreneur, selling himself as a "as a shining example of integrity, transparency and business acumen," according to the Chicago Tribune, which failed to point out the inaccuracy of such a portrayal until after the election.

Thanks, guys.

One of the most amusing things about this whole campaign was Cohen's initiative to create a "'Character Test,' drafted by a panel of judges and ethicists, for the purpose of evaluating the character of each candidate." If this was a real test of character, as the name suggests, Cohen probably wouldn't have passed, as he's now failed retroactively. Then again, just because it's "immediately made available to the public on the Internet" doesn't mean voters will read it. 

I admit, I too was unaware of Cohen's sordid history, but thankfully I was spared the indignity of having to admit I voted for the guy, since I do not make election decisions based on ads or name recognition. I had no idea who Scott Lee Cohen was, other than a guy who I thought wasn't specific enough about his plans to make education affordable to get my vote.

Chicagoan Matt Farmer had this to say about the Cohen controversy:

Elections have consequences, folks. I say that to the registered voters who stayed home on February 2 and to the local media outlets that spend their ever-dwindling resources covering Tiger Woods and the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore, instead of covering issues that matter. Let's treat the "Cohen incident" as a learning experience and try to do better in the future.

Yes, let's do learn a lesson from this embarrassment. I agree with Farmer that the media fell down on the job in this election, much as did the voters who stayed home. Still, those who voted for Cohen bear the greatest responsibility, aside from Cohen himself.

Elections do have consequences. But being elected solely based on the content of your checking account should have consequences as well. Voting for the guy you saw on TV all those times is a recipe for this kind of disastrous candidacy. And believing, as Scott Lee Cohen apparently did, that money could both wipe away past indiscretions and make up for his total lack of qualifications for the job has also consequences, such as making your son sob uncontrollably in front of live news cameras.

While many of us are deeply concerned about the Supreme Court's decision to allow unprecedented amounts of corporate funds to flow into elections, I hope concentrating on the spending power of Exxon Mobile won't let us forget that CEO Rex Tillerson could probably buy himself a Senate seat if he wanted to. And that's probably cheaper than buying 41 senators.

Thankfully, one of the many fixes proposed in the wake to the ruling is to revamp the public financing of elections in this country, so that the system actually works. A pleasant side-effect of such a proposal might just be fewer Scott Lee Cohens being able to drown their opponents in campaign cash.

Voters should remember that while name recognition and ad time can be bought, votes should never be a commodity. And this caveat is coming from a Chicago Democrat, so heed it well. Or else you might find yourself electing a steroids-filled womanizer with a serious credit problem.

Consider yourselves warned.

BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS