I know, the ads here come from an ad network and aren't selected by Josh but come on... this is a web site about national politics and I'm getting Bloomberg for Mayor ads?

This isn't actually a problem with TPMCafe, it's a problem with Bloomberg using his vast personal fortune to run for a local office.  He's going to spend $70 million this season and he won't even feel the pinch from it because he's worth billions!

Get this... I am a New York City resident and the first time I learned the name of Bloomberg's opponent, Bill Thompson, was IN a Bloomberg ad.  Bloomberg is so outspending his opponent that I only figured out his opponent's name because Bloomberg spent money to call him incompetent.

This just isn't right.  We all worry (rightly, methinks) about the influence of big donors on politics but we don't worry enough (in this age of plutocracy) about the tyranny of the self-financed campaign.  Indeed, I've even heard people argue that super rich candidates are a good bet because they have so much they can't be bought, neglecting the more pertinent question which is not who's "buying the candidate?" but "what is the candidate trying to buy?"

By the way, I recently saw a Bloomberg campaign ad on failblog.org, a Web site devoted to funny pictures of stupid things started by the people who (I think) invented LOLcats.  It's gotten ridiculous, guys.  We need public financing for campaigns at all levels and equal media access for anyone who can poll better than 10%.  The way wealth inequality has widened (and no knock on Bloomberg here, he is self-made and I respect that) we are in serious danger of letting billionaires buy whatever election they want. Even using TPMCafe to do it.