loquitur

I'm not so sure. At the state level we don't see the equivalent of 527s, for example. Are they regulated too? How much lobbyist money is there is AZ or Maine to begin with? These aren't states with big govts. Again, using NY as the example (mainly because it's the state I know best), public financing has not eliminated lobbying at all, it just redirects it. And I can assure you that the govt in NY is far, far larger than in ME or AZ, and that the sums at stake dwarf anything in ME or AZ.

Part of the problem is that the stakes are so high at the national level that there is always pressure for the money to go <i>somewhere</i>. As a good libertarian, my prescription would be to get the govt out of a lot of the things it's into - the less involved govt is in the economy, the less need there is to influence it. Activist government breeds corruption. (which isn't to say corruption wouldn't otherwise exist, only that it would have fewer opportunities to take root).

And who is a "lobbyist?" Are teachers unions "lobbies"? How about wetlands preservationists? University research organizations? so-called antipoverty groups? And do in-kind contributions of time and labor (which certainly have value) count too? How you answer those questions will reveal whether the objective of your proposed campaign finance reform is to "take money out of politics" or instead to "take money out of politics from people I don't approve of."

(oh, the "you" in that last post is a generalized "you", not addressed to any particular individual person. I don't do personal attacks.)