[EL] Anonymous candidates

[Michael McDonald]

In 2002, a candidate for Pulaski County Kentucky Sheriff was murdered by his
opponent at a campaign rally.

http://new.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=202457&c=7 

Murder goes well beyond the alleged harassment of campaign donors that we've
heard so frequently on this list about. I am sure that with a little effort,
we can compile more examples of candidates being harassed with physical
violence, starting with Gabriel Giffords or any elected official who has
received death threats. If we are going to insist that people who attempt to
influence the political process must be protected by anonymity, then why
stop at donors?  Why not protect candidates and elected officials? As has
been frequently stated by those who support anonymity, only the message
matters, the identity of the messenger does not. So, why do we need to know
the identity of candidates? If we are going to protect donors with
anonymity, I say let's protect anyone who wishes to affect public policy,
from people who wish to speak about politics to friends and neighbors, to
campaign volunteers and staff, to candidates. (It is not too difficult to
find examples of volunteers being physically assaulted.) We can make
available special political speech burqas equipped with Darth Vader voice
modulators that people can wear if they wish to state political beliefs
publicly. 

Some may counter that people who wish to engage in political speech have the
right to create a free speech burqa of their own, even though my proposal
was meant to reveal the absurdity of the idea. (Isn't that what lawyers do?
Generalize from extreme examples?) So, here is my real question for the
legal minds on the list, which I hope will spark thoughtful discussion: Why
should those who wish to use their money in political speech be granted
mechanisms to protect their anonymity while others who wish to use their
voice in political speech do not have comparable protections?

============
Dr. Michael P. McDonald
Associate Professor, George Mason University
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

                             Mailing address:
(o) 703-993-4191             George Mason University
(f) 703-993-1399             Dept. of Public and International Affairs
mmcdon at gmu.edu               4400 University Drive - 3F4
http://elections.gmu.edu     Fairfax, VA 22030-4444