According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the average candidate for the House of Representatives raised $574,402 in the 2010 election cycle; the average Senate candidate raised $2,427,077. The very process of raising the funds to conduct a successful campaign occupies an enormous amount of time and effort on the part of the candidates and has hamstrung our electoral system in such a way that representatives are, in essence, more accountable to their financial backers than to the people in their district or state.
Public financing of elections is more feasible than ever in the Internet age. The Obama Administration should consider supporting alternatives to the current electoral finance system, including those already in place in other democratic nations around the world.