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Camille Paglia defends David Horowitz
The Salon columnist slams the editors behind Time's attack on Horowitz for their "late summer slip-up."
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[08/24/99]

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And she'll be the first to tell you she's not running for anything these days, but walking -- 10 miles a day -- with a very specific goal in mind. Granny D, as she is called, is walking across the country in order to make the point that big money has corrupted our political process, and it's time that we pushed through some reforms to set things right.

On her stops along the way, she uses the growing media interest in her quest to spread her message about campaign-finance reform far and wide, and it seems as if it may just be starting to catch on.

Ever since New Year's Day, nine months ago now, when she left Pasadena, Calif., and headed on foot toward Washington, Haddock has been attracting crowds wherever she goes.

The Reform Party, recognizing her appeal, convinced her to take a break from her itinerary a couple weeks ago and fly up to Michigan for its convention.

Her message to one and all is straightforward. "There can be no true equality in America so long as only the rich are represented at the table of power," she told Salon. "That is no democracy. There can be no true justice in America so long as only the privileged make the rules and build the jails for those outside the rooms of power. That is no democracy."

Current law technically limits politicians to donations of $1,000 or less from individuals, but candidates use loopholes, such as political action committees and other "soft money" vehicles, to get around the limits and fund their campaigns.

In response, Haddock supports the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill, which will be voted on this fall in the Senate. That bill would prohibit all soft money contributions to the national political parties from corporations, labor unions and wealthy individuals.

In turn, presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the sponsors of the bill, supports Haddock. "I'm proud of her," said Sen. McCain. "It tells me that I have to do a better job of making connections to Americans, the way Granny D does."

Recently, Haddock crossed from Bush territory (Texas) into Clinton country (Arkansas), and she's right on schedule to make it to Washington, by Jan. 24, 2000 -- her 90th birthday.

Haddock says of Bush: "We don't know anything about his ideals or what he stands for. Apparently he stands for being able to raise a lot of money."

When Bill Clinton and Al Gore came to Little Rock recently as part of the kickoff for Gore 2000, Haddock stood in front of the Statehouse Convention Center in quiet protest of Gore's unwillingness to reject soft money.

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