Many Democrat politicians are fond of insisting they care more than Republican rivals for "the little guy." Why, GOP office seekers are the "big money" candidates, they claim.
Sometimes it is just the other way around. Campaign finance reports in the U.S. Senate race in Ohio have been released. They show state Treasurer Josh Mandel, the Republican candidate, has raised about $9.9 million for his campaign.
Meanwhile, incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, has raked in about $15.3 million - more than 50 percent in excess of the so-called "big money" candidate.
Politics always was a matter of raising money, of course. During recent years fundraising has become an even more decisive factor than in the past.
In several ways, including his support of President Barack Obama's war on coal and his backing of the national health care law, Brown has not served Ohioans well. Clearly, however, to judge by contributions to his campaign, some people with lots of money to spend want to keep him in Washington.
