There seems to be a There seems to be a general feeling that Jim Johnson's resignation from the Obama campaign represents an unfortunate cycle of accusations, counter-accusations, and resignations. "Where will it end?" people ask. In a better country with healthier politics, that's where.
Even many conservatives are starting to agree that we've gone way too far in handing over regulation of various industries to people who are essentially representatives of those industries -- the mortgage industry is probably the most egregious example. Johnson, ex-CEO of Fannie Mae, which does business with the mortgage industry, took what seems like a rather valuable favor from one of the largest and most troubled mortgage companies (to be fair, he did so before the current crisis).
Whatever you think of the ethics of his action, we're all better off in a world where accepting favors from large companies or lobbying for them (or, for that matter, helping repressive foreign governments) disqualifies you from public roles in political campaigns. Most important, it makes leaving public service for lobbying or just accepting financial favors that may carry a conflict of interest (sitting on the board of an oil company for example) much less attractive. That reduces the influence and power of these kinds of special interests, and that's unambiguously a good thing.
Political reform of the kind being pushed by, say, Lawrence Lessig, is about way more than campaign finance -- it's fundamentally an attempt to shift our political culture. Johnson's resignation and those of many staffers on the McCain campaign are a small sign of such a shift, and should be celebrated.
--Sam Boyd
