Brookings Panel with Jonathan Rauch, Ray La Raja, Elaine Kamarck

I had a lot of fun at the Brookings Institution on March 8, where I joined a panel with my old National Journal colleague Jonathan Rauch, and with political science professor Ray La Raja to debate whether political parties should enjoy the same access to big money that super PACs enjoy. Jon and Ray have argued that deregulating state parties, in particular, would level the playing field and increase competition. I have my doubts about bringing back unfettered soft money, which turned voters against the parties before it was banned with the McCain-Feingold law. Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Elaine Kamarck moderated. Here is some background about the panel. And here is the C-SPAN video.