Most of the criticism of any kind of campaign finance reform is that is somehow clamps down on free speech. In our current federal system of pay-to-play elections, incumbents can outraise challengers and easily outspend them in gerrymandered districts, and money speaks louder than people. Speech is not free as much as its bought.

A few more stories on the Bush White House’s cross country fundraising efforts on behalf of congressional candidates in tight races.

GOP candidates are publicly disagreeing with President Bush and his policies because of his low poll numbers but apparently have no qualms about using him or the vice president as a means to raise campaign cash. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, this how the White House is faring on behalf of GOP candidates:

At least someone has limits on what they'd do for cash.

Movie star and pop singer Jessica Simpson, recently of Dukes of Hazard fame, refused to appear at a Republican fundraising event to meet with Bush. It's not clear why the fundraising event is the only time on Bush's schedule.

Courtesy of the DailyKos, the Hotline Blog is posting snippets of an interview with Jack Abramoff that will be printed in Vanity Fair. From the blog:

"According to the Vanity Fair article, Pres. Bush once teased Abramoff about his muscular build. 'What are you benching, buff guy?'"

DeLay was able to secure the GOP nod in TX-22 (he received 62% of the vote) but not by the margin expected from a sitting incumbent in a Republican leaning district. DeLay remains as vulnerable as people have been saying he is. Cal Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said:

"DeLay will have to capture two-thirds of the vote in order to claim he's out of trouble."

Lu Dubose, co-author with Jan Reid of The Hammer Comes Down: The Nasty, Brutish and Shortened Political Life of Tom DeLay, has a good piece over at TomPaine.com summarizing the DeLay

Tom DeLay just sent a nine-page letter to his GOP constituents, claiming that it is "absolutely untrue" that he was a "close personal friend" of Jack Abramoff's. Hmmm...all those trips, all those gifts (remember the Three Tenors concert)? We suppose it's all in the definition of what Tom DeLay considers a friend...

Back in 2003, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released some 1.5 million email messages that it collected as part of its investigation of Enron's price-gouging of California consumers. The press pounced on some of the choicer bits, but this is truly the gift that keeps giving.

...drinking game!