Why Do Senators Spend Most of Their Time Fundraising?
Calley Means says senators spend about 90 percent of their time fundraising rather than dealing with voters. He links that claim to his criticism of direct Senate elections and of a political culture that treats money as more important than the public's preferences.
He contrasts the original system of appointment by state legislatures with direct election under the Seventeenth Amendment. Means calls that change a disaster and says he would prefer the earlier system. He then recounts Susie Wiles telling him that sugar-industry money was needed for the midterms. His counterargument is that Trump has won elections with less money, and that a candidate's message and promises can matter more. The fundraising percentage and account of that conversation are his claims, not independently verified measurements or quotations.
