Dear Republican Party 2018, Some Americans are demanding a Senator vote a certain way, and if she doesn't, they'll spend a lot of money trying to defeat her. You think that's free speech. Sincerely, Republican Party 2015https://twitter.com/JohnCornyn/status/1039675083604807680 …
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The only substantial differences I can see between a crowd-funded threat to back Susan Collins' opponent if she votes for Kavanaugh and the above examples are: 1) Many people funding the threat, not a few rich individuals. 2) Liberals, rather than conservatives, are doing it. 5/x
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All of these are functionally bribery. Not as bad as covertly handing over a suitcase of cash that the politician uses for private goods. But still, many donations are conditional on specific votes, and politicians want the donations enough that it influences their behavior. 6/x
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Legally, Citizens United was correct. Regulating means to disseminate political speech is regulating political speech. But it created problems, such as more sort-of-bribery (e.g. at Susan Collins) Maybe now that a Republican is threatened, GOP will recognize those problems. (END)
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Why isn't the vote itself a form of bribery? If the elected official won't hew to electorate's desires, they don't get votes.
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Because votes aren't money or material goods.
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Votes are provided by money or material goods, in essence. So, if I choose not to donate to A, but instead to his opponent B, due to A not voting the way I wish, am I bribing B to have her vote the way I want?
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Votes are not provided by money. Votes are provided by citizens. A citizens' decision could be influenced by things bought with money. But that's not the same. Make your donation specific and communicate this in advance, basically yes. If you do it quietly, like normal, then no.
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