Buying the presidency

In an article about the Republican '08 candidates trying to "woo" the big money Republican donors, WaPo's Chris Cillizza speaks the truth,

Bush's 2000 campaign forever changed the fundraising dynamic for presidential races, showing that an enormous early financial advantage was the same as winning an "invisible primary." In that race, there are no voters, elections or overt campaigning -- just the wooing of fabulously rich people with the rewards of insider status, complete with fancy titles.

Cillizza is saying that the first (and most important) primary is in the tiny, but incredibly influential, state of oligarchy.

(I hate to tell Mitt, the subject of this article, but McCain has been meeting with Bush donors for almost a year, and Bush/Rove already gave McCain their direct mail list. Good luck with that fundraising, though.)

(Aside: This isn't just Republican. That's why Obama is considered as a real threat to Hillary Clinton. He's the only one out there who has a shot at raising money with her. This is our democracy.)