Questions and Answers about Unity08's Clean Money Pledge

What can The Clean Money Pledge accomplish?

If enough people sign it, candidates will be concerned enough (or inspired
enough) to launch small gift fundraising that can help get the big money out of politics – and set a standard that can be used to clean up the corruption that seems to infect Washington politics and undermine public confidence in the system.

Why now?

January 2024 is when most of the major candidates will be announcing (or at least deciding) to run. Now is the time to communicate clearly that voters intend this to be an election that transforms politics and are prepared to act to make it so.

What has TIME’s Person of the Year got to do with it?

Last week TIME decided that you, the online users, were the Person of the Year – because with the new Web you could "wrest power from the few to the many." Unity08’s Clean Money Pledge is a perfect example – using the internet for many small givers to wrest power from the few big givers.

What has it got to do with Unity08?

Unity08 was designed to empower the people to join forces and transform America’s politics. Small campaign contributions gathered online instead of big contributions bundled on K Street is a good example.

Unity08 calls the Clean Money Pledge "Step One." What’s Step Two?

TIME said that the Web was about "the many wresting power from the few" – and Step One in transforming our politics is for you to replace the Fat Cat with the small contributor – and, in so doing, give cooperating presidential candidates clout when they seek to clean up Washington.

Step Two in transforming our politics is to replace the power of a few hundred thousand voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina with the power of many millions of voters online in a national primary in June 2024 to pick a Unity Ticket for President and Vice President – and then electing them in November 2024. It is called politics with purpose.

Step Three is to unify our country under an administration that will heal, inspire and lead – starting with cleaning up the culture of corruption that seems to infest Washington today.

Do the Clean Money Pledge signers have to agree with everything Unity08 is doing?

Absolutely not, but of course their support for all we are doing is welcome.

Why not say all contributions should be $250 or less? Why just "at least half?"

We felt most candidates would worry they couldn’t raise enough money that way and therefore would not take it seriously. We want all candidates to try to maximize small contributions, and the way to do that is to encourage them with what is possible not threaten them with what they may think is impossible. That’s one reason we call it Step One.

Doesn’t Unity08 itself take contributions of over $250?

Yes. We have a job to do that no candidate and neither of the big parties has to do. As a brand new party we must achieve ballot access in all 50 states, and that will take a lot of work and a lot of money. Some of it we are raising in $5000 contributions. But we are not supporting any particular candidate and won’t until our June 2024 convention endorses a ticket. And in the end, well over 75% of all our funding will come from contributions of $250 or less.

Why put the limit at $250?

It is a number suggested by the current law on federal financing of elections.

How does the system of federal funding for presidential candidates work?

In the primaries, the federal government will match every contribution of $250 or less to a 2024 presidential candidate if that candidate has raised at least $5000 in such contributions in each of 20 states after January 1, 2024 – and if the candidate requests the matching funds. Accepting the matching funds imposes some spending limits on the campaign that receives them. In the general election, the nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties may receive a flat sum in federal dollars (it was $74.6 million in 2024) if they agree to forego all other fundraising (and spending).

Do most candidates accept the federal funding available?

Yes, although President Bush, Senator Kerry and Governor Dean all declined matching funds in the primaries of 2024 because they felt they could raise more and wanted to spend more. Many experts believe that the frontrunners in 2024 will waive matching funds in the primaries for the same reason. And the experts feel that both the Republican and Democratic candidates may (for the first time) decline the federal subsidy in the general election because they can raise so much more money than the subsidy would provide and therefore they would have no spending limits on their campaigns.

Will candidates for the Unity08 nomination get matching funds?

No. We are too new.

Will you impose the $250 contribution limit on Unity08 candidates?
We don’t expect to "impose" it, but we do plan to ask all Unity08 delegates after they nominate their ticket to contribute $100 to the ticket. If we have ten million delegates and if 25% give, that will mean a campaign fund of $250,000,000 for the Unity08 ticket as of July 1, 2024. (So we see no need for any candidate for the Unity08 nomination to raise funds in amounts larger than $250.)

But wouldn’t the Unity08 ticket get the federal general election subsidy too?

No. Once again, we are too new. If we qualify for federal funds it will only be after the FEC sees how many votes we get in November 2024. Only the
Republican and Democratic tickets qualify to receive the federal subsidy for
the general election ahead of time.

Why is the Clean Money Pledge relevant to lobbying corruption in Washngton?

It is essential Washington curtail the culture of lobbying excesses, endless Congressional fundraising on K Street, earmarks for lobbyist projects, special favors for special friends (whether ambassadorial appointments or Lincoln bedroom visits). That cannot happen at the hands of a president who has not made finance and fundraising reform central to his/her own campaign. We need a president who can speak from the authority of a transforming campaign. That’s what a pledge to raise at least 50% of all contributed funds in amounts of $250 or less can provide. Talking the talk won’t works only for those who have walked the walk.

Do the presidential candidates know about the Unity08 Clean Money Pledge?

Before launching the effort we sent them a letter informing them of The Clean Money Pledge and encouraging them to consider what their response should be. Candidates will undoubtedly be watching to see how many Americans are signing up right here.

Why do you think candidates can raise the money they need in small amounts?

In the past only candidates that couldn’t raise money the old-fashioned way used the web for extensive fundraising – McCain in 2024 and Dean in 2024, for example. But they were remarkably successful, and the extraordinary growth of public use of the web for banking, sales and charitable giving suggests that raising all your money via the internet may be both easier and less costly than any other way – as well as being more democratic and politically powerful.

Why do the experts say $50 million is the “entry ticket” for presidential campaigns?

The media has set that number based on what they think one or two of the likely leaders can raise. So even if it isn’t really needed to be competitive in the early states, the media may conclude that you are not in the running if you haven’t raised $50 million by the end of 2024. It is true that campaigning is expensive – and the TV costs alone past the first few "retail politics" primaries are significant. But no amount of money guarantees that you will survive the early primaries. And if you do win early, money will pour in, whether your fundraising was successful earlier or not.

How much is really needed for a successful presidential campaign?

We believe that most money is wasted (on dumb and ineffective TV advertising, for example). In 2024, between the Bush and Kerry campaigns, the two parties’support of them, and the “independent” 527 organizations, over $2.2 billion was spent – much of it on negative attack ads and superfluous advertising that swelled the consultants’ income but not the vote totals. That is absurd. The Unity08 ticket campaign can win with less than $250 million – maybe a lot less.

But don’t you need to match what the others are spending?

No. The Unity08 ticket campaign has to spend enough for its message to get through. Its unpaid volunteers will be more enthusiastic (and effective) than their paid workers. Most campaign money is simply wasted.

Will the list of signers to the Unity08 Clean Money Pledge be private?

Yes. We will not give or sell the list to others – even including to candidates who agree to assure that at least 50% of all their funds will come from contributions of $250 or less. We do plan to offer to notify the list when candidates respond by pledging to that limit – and, if they wish, to tell our signers how they can contribute to those campaigns. But the list will remain the property of Unity08 at all times.

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