Adonal Foyle, backup center for the Orlando Magic and founder of Democracy Matters, gets to cast his first vote as an American citizen tomorrow in Florida's presidential primary. The Orlando Sentinel talks with him about his path to the states, the importance of voting, and why we have to get big money out of politics.

Foyle explains why he has dedicated himself to changing the way we finance our elections:

He's always been interested in the political process, but he became engrossed in politics as a student at Colgate University. A few years ago, he founded an organization called "Democracy Matters" -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization to get college students and other young people involved in the electoral process. The main platform of Democracy Matters is campaign finance reform.


Why campaign finance? It bothers Foyle that the No. 1 issue for legitimate presidential candidates isn't how to stop the war or how to remedy the worldwide oil crisis. He shakes his head. "The first issue," he says, "is always how much money can the candidate raise? If you want to restore hope and trust in government, you have to take the big-money influence out of the equation. There is so much corporate and private money given to the candidates that their policies are directed first and foremost to helping the people who finance their success instead of their constituencies at large."