"Does anybody want to talk about campaign finance reform?"

That's what Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said at the opening ceremonies for the National Conference for Media Reform (NCRM) held this past weekend in Minneapolis by Free Press. The conference was preceded by Democracy Day, a one day event organized by FairVote.

And we did just what Rep. Ellison asked.

At the Democracy Day conference, activists from across the country talked about a variety of democracy issues--from instant runoff voting and election day registration to Clean Elections and the surge of small donors in the 2008 presidential election.

I spoke on a panel with two Common Cause colleagues about the need for Clean Elections, or full public financing of elections. I talked about how Clean Elections allows people like Deborah Simpson to get elected to office and Steve Allen from Common Cause New Mexico talked about their victories.

Journalists like Amy Goodman and John Nichols spoke alongside activists Bob Edgar, Malia Lazu, and Public Campaign National Programs Director Solange Hansen about the need to engage more people in the political process, to make elections fair, and to hold politicians accountable for their actions.

At the media reform conference, between discussions about corporate ownership and the power of an independent press, Solange spoke about the connection between democracy and media reform.

She asked everyone in the room to get out their checkbooks and start donating money to her two year old son Max, so some day he will be able to run for office. The cost of running for office continues to skyrocket, and as she said:

"The average cost of a House seat was $1.2 million, a comparative bargain to that of a Senate seat of $7.2 million. Candidates who don’t have massive personal fortunes they’re willing to spend on their own races must collect this money from the wealthy corporate interests that have it to give away."

Lawrence Lessig, founder of Change Congress, gave a tremendous speech (not to mention one of the best PowerPoint presentations I've ever seen) about where priorities lie in this country and pressed his argument for Clean Elections. Here's the video:

Both conferences were enlightening and inspiring and they show that thousands of activists across the country are committed to making our country a more open, accessible, and equal place for everyone.