We are Represent.Us, a nonpartisan organization working to fight money in politics corruption and the authors of the American Anti-Corruption Act. We're sending "Honest" Gil Fulbright, a satirical candidate, to crash the most expensive senate race...

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We think Gil is much more effective as a publicity tool for the anti-corruption movement. A parody candidate as a protest vote would be appealing to some, but very unlikely to win. That said, I definitely think you can expect to see more and more serious anti-corruption candidates showing up on the ballot in the near future. Our pals at MayDay PAC have put together a list of the first five running in the 2014 midterms.

Can people actually vote for you or are you just a write-in candidate?

Gil is a satirical candidate, so his name will not actually appear on the ballot (sorry Gil)

So how does an average American start fighting political corruption? If it takes a senator to propose any kind of a bill that would limit campaign donations, why would any senator propose such a thing, what with the system already working in their favor?

Copy / Pasting from a similar question:

Well, our organization is always looking for volunteers. Drop us a line at volunteer.represent.us, and we'll put you in touch with other activists in your area. We're building a nationwide network of local chapters to organize around local anti-corruption laws (20 and counting!) Lawrence Lessig's organizations, MayDay PAC and Rootstrikers, also do fantastic work if you're looking for other places to get involved.

The scale of the problem can definitely feel un-winnable and overwhelming sometimes. However, it's important to remember that the problems we're facing are caused by very specific loopholes in the law that can and should be closed. If our anti-corruption laws are out of date, and fail to address how corruption actually happens, then the first thing we have to do is update them (see our model legislation to get an idea of the kinds of policies we're talking about)

So, how do we actually get something like that passed at the federal level? If we want to make progress on this issue, we need to take this fight to the states. We're pursuing a state and local strategy first because:

1. It's good policy. Many of the problems we see at the federal level are even worse at the state and local level. We can and should change these laws.

2. It's good politics. There are multiple states where we can bypass potentially compromised state legislatures and put a comprehensive, state-level anti-corruption act directly on the ballot. The kinds of policies we're advocating are wildly popular, and highly likely to pass if given directly to the voters. Every state and local win builds momentum for national reform, and shows an understandably cynical public that this is a winnable fight.

If you're looking for an example of this strategy in action, look no further than the marijuanna legalization movement. "Legalizing it" was a late night talk show punchline not even 20 years ago. Now, after a series of state-level victories, a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuanna for the first time ever.

The only difference is, the polling numbers we're starting with look way better than theirs ever did. We're currently researching potential state-level anti-corruption acts in Washington State, California, Arizona, Montana, and Ohio.

TL;DR: Don't get cynical. We're in this thing to win.

First off this idea is awesome! How do you plan on getting people to take you seriously and not simply dismiss you as humorous?

Great question. We decided to go the satire route after we saw a study by the Anneberg Public Policy Center which found that viewers of the Colbert Report learned more about money in politics from the Colbert SuperPAC series than from any other news source. Using humor has been a great way to both educate the public and get attention from mainstream press, which has historically treated money in politics as a fringe, "wonky" issue.

It's been a huge success so far. Gil's campaign has generated over 100 national and local media stories including coverage by CNN, Fox News, Fast Company, USA Today, and NBC's Today show (full press round up here)

How will you handle things if Gil actually wins?

Well, Gil is running as a purely satirical candidate whose name doesn't actually appear on the ballot, so the odds of that happening are pretty low. If he does win, his first official act will be to stitch the logos of his financial backers onto his suit NASCAR-style.

What's the single most important message to get across to people when promoting this campaign?

That our movement absolutely must be a non-partisan one. Just about every poll commissioned on this issue has shown that equal numbers of conservatives and liberals support the kinds of policies we need to actually fix this problem. But traditionally, many efforts to fight the corrupting influence of money in politics have been branded as left-wing efforts to stop evil republican donors (the "save our democracy from the Koch brothers!" line of messaging).

This is, understandably, a massive turn-off to conservative voters and politicians, and it's why most campaign finance reform proposals at the federal level die the same predictable death with a handful of Democratic support and almost zero Republican support.

More than half of American voters self-identify as conservative. We can't expect to change anything if we alienate a massive block of the public that would otherwise agree with us. Blind partisanship is one of the biggest threats to this movement.

Jim Rubens has proposed the removal of all subsidies for energy companies (http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Jim-Rubens-Is-Arguably-the-Most-Unique-Republican-Running-for-Senate). How will this help smaller green energy start ups compete with the most profitable companies in the history of the world? Would it not be easier to re-appropriate those same subsidies to this fledgling industry?

We're supporting Jim Rubens because of his support for policies that would confront the corrupting influence of money in politics (our friends at MayDay PAC have a nice summary of his position here). Our organization is solely focused on the issue of money in politics corruption, so energy subsidies are a bit outside of our expertise. However, I'm sure you could drop the Rubens campaign a line with your question at his campaign website

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Well, our organization is always looking for volunteers. Drop us a line at volunteer.represent.us, and we'll put you in touch with other activists in your area. We're building a nationwide network of local chapters to organize around local anti-corruption laws (20 and counting!) Lawrence Lessig's organizations, MayDay PAC and Rootstrikers, also do fantastic work if you're looking for other places to get involved.

The scale of the problem can definitely feel un-winnable and overwhelming sometimes. However, it's important to remember that the problems we're facing are caused by very specific loopholes in the law that can and should be closed. Our anti-corruption laws are out of date, and fail to address how corruption actually happens, then the first thing we have to do is update them (see our model legislation to get an idea of the kinds of policies we're talking about)

So, how do we actually get something like that passed at the federal level? If we want to make progress on this issue, we need to take this fight to the states. We're pursuing a state and local strategy first because:

1. It's good policy. Many of the problems we see at the federal level are even worse at the state and local level. We can and should change these laws.

2. It's good politics. There are multiple states where we can bypass potentially compromised state legislatures and put a comprehensive, state-level anti-corruption act directly on the ballot. The kinds of policies we're advocating are wildly popular, and highly likely to pass if given directly to the voters. Every state and local win builds momentum for national reform, and shows an understandably cynical public that this is a winnable fight.

If you're looking for an example of this strategy in action, look no further than the marijuanna legalization movement. "Legalizing it" was a late night talk show punchline not even 20 years ago. Now, after a series of state-level victories, a majority of Americans support legalizing marijuanna for the first time ever.

The only difference is, the polling numbers we're starting with look way better than theirs ever did. We're currently researching potential state-level anti-corruption acts in Washington State, California, Arizona, Montana, and Ohio.

TL;DR: Don't get cynical. We're in this thing to win.

Satire aside, how do you plan on using your growing popularity to fight for real change? and how far are you planning on taking this thing?

We're using Gil's popularity to keep money in politics in the headlines (we've managed to get positive mentions of our anti-corruption campaign on CNN, Fox News, and NBC's Today show among other), and use the publicity to encourage people to join our campaign for state-based reform (here's an explanation of our strategy in another comment). Gil will also be swinging by the New Hampshire Senate race to help Lawrence Lessig's Mayday PAC drum up some publicity for pro-reform candidate Jim Rubens.

The Sky's the limit for old Gil right now. Who knows — He might even run for president in 2016.

Do you have an internship for a cs student who wants to make an impact? :3

We might! Email your resume and a cover letter to [email protected] and we'll pass it on to our lead developer.