Loser's Millions

Liberals in Massachusetts are cheering the victory of Deval Patrick, an ex-Clinton DOJ official who came from nowhere to romp to the Democratic nomination for governor. There's a reason for non-liberals to cheer; it's yet another race this year that explodes one of campaign finance reformers' hobgoblins. Once again, a multi-millionaire candidate vastly outspent his rivals and got trounced.

Massachusetts' loser was Chris Gabrieli, a venture capitalist who dumped $8.5 million into his race. His prize: 27% of the vote. Gabrieli follows in the steps of the humiliated Josh Rales, a toothy Maryland developer who spent $5 million on soft-focus TV ads (after bragging that he could spend millions more and he still wouldn't be holding out "a tin cup") for an eventual 5 percent of the vote. Vermont multimillionaire Rich Tarrant is looking to spend just as much, in a state where candidates regularly win spending less than $1 million, for the right to get creamed by socialist Rep. Bernie Sanders. Race by race, the evidence mounts that voters don't need a government clampdown on free speech to help make their election decisions.