My reading of Robert Caro’s monumental three volume biography of Lyndon Baines Johnson has taken on new relevance in light of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance.  In Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2) Caro tells the story of how LBJ stole the 1948 election that brought him to Congress: with corporate cash.

LBJ was a little known congressman facing Coke Stevenson, a tremendously popular former governor known as “Mr. Texas.”  Most political experts thought LBJ didn’t stand a chance.  They were right; or they would have been right had this election not marked the transition into an entirely new era in American politics, as Caro argues.  What the experts didn’t know about was the enormous reserves of cash Johnson had at his disposal from a variety of large corporations who had appreciated his responsiveness as a Congressman, and could only imagine what he could accomplish for them as a Senator.  Not only did Johnson flood the airwaves with advertising and travel to campaign stops via helicopter, at the time an astonishing move, but he used campaign contributions to literally buy votes and stuff ballot boxes.  Even so, his opponent was popular enough that Johnson could only muster an 87-vote victory. Yes, he was mocked as “landslide Lyndon” when he entered Congress, but it didn’t take long for LBJ to make the most of his opportunities and emerge as a powerful Congressman who would later ascend to the Presidency.

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down limits on corporate campaign donations suggests that we will see a lot more elections like this one, where unlimited spending perverts democracy and thwarts the will of the people.

Those who love liberty ought to ask: should corporations and organizations be granted the same rights and liberties as persons?  How much liberty will we have when our elected representatives can be purchased outright?

Those who want to read more about the history of money in politics might start with Means of Ascent (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume 2) .