New Jersey's Home News Tribune is concerned about the legislature's apparent lack of enthusiasm for upgrading and implementing the state's Clean Elections pilot program, and suggests the first step is to lower the threshold for "qualifying contributions" a candidate must collect to be eligible for Clean Elections funds. The Senate has pushed back their deadline for making a decision on which districts will participate in the program after debate erupted over whether to include primary races in the pilot program. The paper laments that more time will be wasted with this delay that could be used figuring out ways to encourage broader participation with the program, finally concluding that: "One way or another, the state has got to find a way to make Clean Elections work. Otherwise, only the personally wealthy or the politically well-connected will ever have the chance to aspire to higher office, let alone win — an end that is antithetical to democratic ideals." Let's hope the Senate throws a bit more effort behind making Clean Elections work.