--- title: Presidential Debate: Candidates Must Talk Campaign Finance description: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton should say: 'The barrier for elected office is higher than it ought to be.' canonical: https://time.com/4505933/presidential-debate-jon-huntsman-and-bob-kerrey-campaign-finance/ author: Jon Huntsman article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-26T13:00:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:16.092Z article:section: Ideas og:title: First Debate Must Address Campaign Finance og:description: 'The barrier for elected office is higher than it ought to be' og:url: https://time.com/4505933/presidential-debate-jon-huntsman-and-bob-kerrey-campaign-finance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc589c737f08b056c/6988a74a0b72e30bfc6eb1a3/clinton_trump_first_debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: clinton_trump_first_debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: First Debate Must Address Campaign Finance twitter:description: 'The barrier for elected office is higher than it ought to be' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc589c737f08b056c/6988a74a0b72e30bfc6eb1a3/clinton_trump_first_debate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jon Huntsman and Bob Kerrey: First Debate Must Address Campaign Finance > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=10c18b03-17b9-4fc7-a373-a7c10ed99ea9&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like [Watch (HLS stream): What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jeUYQHqg.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2016-03-31_ by [Jon Huntsman](https://time.com/author/jon-huntsman/) and [Bob Kerrey](https://time.com/author/bob-kerrey/) Sep 26, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  From left: Mark Wilson—Getty Images; Matt Rourke—AP by [Jon Huntsman](https://time.com/author/jon-huntsman/) and [Bob Kerrey](https://time.com/author/bob-kerrey/) Sep 26, 2016 1:00 PM UTC It is an underappreciated small miracle that so many Americans are paying close attention to the presidential campaign. Some are predicting that the number of voters watching Monday night’s debate will equal the viewers who watch the Super Bowl. There is reason to hope for another small miracle—that both Secretary [Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4504456/debate-how-hillary-clinton-defeat-donald-trump/) and [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4504482/debate-how-donald-trump-defeat-hillary-clinton/) will agree that the methods by which campaigns are financed require significant reform—an effort they will hopefully undertake. Throughout the primaries and general election, both candidates rallied voters to their cause by laying bare the realities of pay-to-play politics and dysfunction in the current system. Americans have been inundated with headlines about cronyism and accusations of selling access. Public polls indicate that voters have been particularly incensed this entire cycle. Ninety-one percent of Republican Iowa Caucuses-goers told _Bloomberg_ and the _Des Moines Register_ they were “[mad as hell](http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-09-01/how-donald-trump-is-winning-over-anti-wall-street-republicans)” about the amount of money in politics. Worse, public trust in government institutions has plummeted with anti-establishment views eclipsing the U.S. political stage. Gallup [reports](http://www.gallup.com/poll/185759/widespread-government-corruption.aspx) that 75% of the U.S. public believes corruption is widespread throughout our government. This is the moment to do something more than lay blame. The candidates must show the broader public that Americans are greater than the politics and parties that have historically divided us. While it’s true that modern-day political debates are more akin to televised verbal high-wire acts than learned discourse on ideas and policy, we have a recommendation, based on years of campaigning for gubernatorial, congressional and presidential offices. Our recommendation to the candidates is to honestly tell the American people that the barrier for elected office is higher than it ought to be. The first question you should be asked if you throw your hat in the ring is whether you meet the constitutional requirements to serve and what you will do if elected. But that isn’t what happens. Rather, the first question is whether you can raise enough money to compete. The modern conclusion is that if you can’t raise the money, you’re unqualified to run for office. It is not in the Constitution, but it’s the reality of our current politics. Here are a few hard truths: in any given election, a determined group or set of groups, with sufficient resources, can drive a candidate out of a primary or politics altogether. In fact, presidential election [spending](http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/02/historic-price-cost-presidential-elections) has doubled since 2000\. In this cycle alone, by the end of August super PACs had [raised](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/09/21/usa-today-analysis-super-pac-donations-surge-past-1-billion/90790546/) more than $1 billion, a third of which was represented by the top 50 donors being represented. If both candidates believe their rhetoric that their opponent is tarnished due to their affiliated foundations and alleged favor-seeking practices, it is not enough to merely outline the issue, but rather forge innovative and bold solutions that mitigate them. We do not need a president who acknowledges problems and turns away, but instead one who tackles the difficult tasks of negotiating and solving problems—otherwise known as governing—with gusto. Make our elected officials responsive to us again, not just the corporations, unions and special interests that can afford to buy-in to the high-stakes influence game. Make us believe in the potential of the American people again. There is room for leadership on this issue and voters will coalesce behind the candidate who chooses to step out front first. Not since Republican President Theodore Roosevelt’s [proclamation](https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/corporations-and-american-democracy), “There is no enemy of free government more dangerous and none so insidious as the corruption of the electorate,” and subsequent passage of the Tillman Act has the public stood so firmly behind this cause. We believe there is reason to hope for this small miracle: that the next president will be a champion of this cause on behalf of a better democracy. ## Transcript I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls, the queue poll just came out. America didn't stop being great. We have to make it whole again. I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton. I have not started on Hillary yet. Believe me, I will start soon. [ APPLAUSE ] I haven't even started. If you don't get an actual check From the Mexican government for 8 or 10 or $ 12 billion, whatever it will cost. How are you going to make them pay for the wall? I will. He's talking about a very tall wall. And the wall just got ten feet taller. That would run the entire border. Paid for by Mexico. That he would somehow get the Mexican government to pay for. We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. You know it's just Fantasy. [ NOISE ] I would work quickly to present to the Congress my plans for raising the minimum wage. Taxes too high, wages too high. Well, you know both Bill and I have been very blessed, neither of us came from wealthy families, and we've worked really hard our entire lives. I took one million dollars and I turned it into Okay, one million ten billion dollars. I've come up with a tax plan that many, many people like Now- Very. [ NOISE ] They may not care much about their lives, but they do care, believe it or not, about their family's lives. [ APPLAUSE ] A diplomacy is not about getting to the perfect solution- We need tough people, we need toughness. It's about how you balance the risk. I would bring back water boarding. And I'd bring back a helluva lot worse, than what we're boarding. We will not send American combats groups back to Syria or Iraq, that is off the table. We talk about Iran and that's one of the worst deals ever made I'm asking people to support me because I think I'm the most qualified, most experienced and ready person to be the President. If I'm elected to be President We will win and we will win and we will win. Thank you. 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