Over the years of my own mucking around in the issue of political influence I’ve tried a lot of ways of connecting the issue to various constituencies that I thought should have a natural interest in the undue influence of political contributors on their lawmakers. And that strategy has gained lots of adherents to the notion that big money (campaign contributions, lobbying expenditures, etc.) skews national priorities and policies. Environmentalists certainly believe it. So too advocates for less oil dependent energy policies and a host of other issues where big money is lined up against the community interest.  

So I was pleased with the launch of Muckraking Mom, a new blog written by a former colleague and long-time ally – Nancy Watzman – one of the best analysts of the impact of money and politics on policy. I found it funny (lots of insights on the antics of her young son Leo), informative, and disturbing. Check it out and pass it along to your friends.

What’s exciting about this is that Nancy has seized the new media as a way of getting out the message about big money politics’ disturbing influence over policies that regular, every day folks – Moms and Dads – care about. But no more 50 page reports, or books (one of which she co-authored with Sunlight consultant Micah Sifry), or reliance on TV or radio interviews. She’s bringing it straight to us.