[EL] Vengeful politicians

[Michael McDonald]

Sean,

We had this discussion a couple of days ago. The type of speech that the CEO
of Chick-fil-A engaged in is, according to you, not speech that should be
protected. The boycotts and other protest activities are not triggered by a
campaign donation. They are triggered by words that were said on tape. It is
curious that the examples in opposition to disclosure involve money: not
only in the giving of money, but now in protests involving money that are
triggered by any speech. I suppose the new standard to be applied is that
money equals speech, but speech absent money does not equal speech.

-Mike

============
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

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Sean
Parnell
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 9:31 AM
To: law-election at UCI.EDU
Subject: [EL] Vengeful politicians

I wonder if anybody who has claimed that an ‘Enemies List’ or retaliation
against businesses for supporting the ‘wrong’ candidates/causes/views would
care to comment on this?

http://www.suntimes.com/news/13988905-418/emanuel-goes-after-chick-fil-a-for
-boss-anti-gay-views.html

The article starts:

The anti-gay views openly espoused by the president of a fast food chain
specializing in chicken sandwiches have run afoul of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and
a local alderman, who are determined to block Chick-fil-A from expanding in
Chicago.

I’d welcome any feedback on what, if anything, this suggests about the
concerns expressed by some of us here about disclosure of donations to
independent organizations that speak out on political or social causes and
the likelihood of politicians seeking retribution. Particularly given that
one of the two politicians leading this charge happens to be a former White
House Chief of Staff.

Best,

Sean Parnell
President
Impact Policy Management, LLC
6411 Caleb Court
Alexandria, VA  22315
571-289-1374 (c)
sean at impactpolicymanagement.com