This was an interesting thing to run across this morning: John Wolfe, who has declared his candidacy in a special election for a seat in the Tennessee Senate has given public financing of campaigns (with specific mention of Maine and Arizona) in his campaign platform. Given that the special election deals with a previous seat holder involved in a corruption investigation it certainly makes sense -- do you know if your state legislative candidates mention pubilc financing or campaign finance reform in their platforms?

As is often the case, ethics reform legislation follows nasty bouts of corruption in the halls of Congress and in state houses. That's what happened in Tennessee where the legislature has passed ethics reform. The co-author of the ethics legislation is Rep. Frank Buck (D-Dowelltown). But the Jackson Sun and Rep. Buck don't think the ethics reform goes far enough. It's time to look at how campaigns are funded if we really want to change the system.