SuperPACS damaging our election process

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “money” qualified as free speech under the Constitution, conservatives cheered as they visualized more influence by their wealthy friends toward the outcome of presidential elections. They were still celebrating the “swiftboating” of John Kerry in 2004 by unaccountable, for money or facts, political action committees.

And the rest of us were left wondering if we still lived in a democracy where our voices and votes counted as much as the “new ruling class,” which the wealthy believed themselves to be.

Ironic, isn't it, that those who craved the influence of money and PACs are now being “outed” in this spectacle called a Republican presidential nomination process. What hurts them the most is that nearly everything said is based on facts which they cannot dispute, so they are left to cry about the negative influence that they created.

Surely our election process needs reform and the sooner we can get the influence of money, especially unaccountable money, out of the system, the better.

The process needs to be shortened and more reliance placed on print media coverage of a candidate's history and proposals as well as lots of debates that, I must admit, have been as entertaining as they have been informative.

Larry Hodgden

Tipton