Control of the purse

A recent Times article hits on the idea of campaign finance since Citizens United becoming more diversified, ripping away control from party bosses.

The idea of quietly showing a candidate the door is an idea that harkens back to the days when the political parties were run by a handful of power brokers — before “super PACs,” the Tea Party and politics by Twitter diminished the influence of the parties.

“It was a time when the party bosses controlled the access to money and to the media,” said Doris Kearns Goodwin, a political historian. “They really could tell people to do something or other. I don’t know who those people would be today.”

The Super-PAC's have crushed the party fundraising establishment and the Internet has crushed the media establishment. Perhaps, in an ironic twist, a more democratic process has emerged from Citizens United?