Commentary by Dale Emmons Kentucky Democratic Party Representative Advisory Task Force for Development of KREF Legislative Package, February 23, 2005 Allow me to note that Republicans Damon Thayer and Trey Grayson are acting much like "carnival snake oil salesmen". With little debate and a quick flurry of sound bites, the Republicans in Frankfort would have you believe they will cure all the ills money and our system of funding our elections with one simple fix! This is indeed putting the fox in the hen house! At best this proposal is disingenuous and more correctly should be described as a partisan political poly. The catch phrase of "Welfare for politicians" and the mantra of not spending taxpayer dollars for "attack ads, bumper stickers and yard signs" are indeed cleaver. Much like Newt Gringrich's "Contract for America" was. Sadly and unfortunately, both will be proven to be as dry as the oil wells George W. Bush sunk as a private businessman.  The simple truth is campaigns cost money. How much and who pays the bills is the real issue at hand. Will it be that we turn to candidates with personal wealth, special interest or a system of political patronage? Let's look to our own federal elections. For decades we watched as big tobacco funded Republicans congressional campaigns. Now with a not to subtle slight of hand, Kentucky family farmers were left holding the tab. "While no public money was spent on the elections, the public interest was!" A simple review of a single category, the health industry, in the last Kentucky election cycle is telling. It shows 741 donors gave Republicans $535,570 while only 256 gave Democrats much less to Democrats.  In the current political climate we are compelled to pick our battles. While changing the system is likely, let's be honest with ourselves. This will not be campaign finance reform. We are breaking the test tube containing the Kentucky experiment to gain public trust and to establish sanity in spending for our system of electing a governor. Do this we show no regard to results and may well ask the auctioneer to begin the bidding. In the final analysis, we as Democrats seek transparency and accountability. With timely disclosure, Kentuckians of every region and stripe will be empowered to decide for themselves. Dale Emmons is a Kentucky based Democratic political consultant. Last year he successfully managed State Senator Dorsey Ridley's Special Election campaign. In that contest he faced off against the formable legion of the Kentucky Republican Party. He can be contacted at: Dale Emmons, Emmons & Company, Inc., P. O. Box 1551, Richmond, KY 40476-1551, 859-623-3266 office, 859-333-6674 cell, 859-623-3633 fax, dale@politicskentucky.com, www.politicskentucky.com