Is it Really All About the Benjamins?

Financial disclosure week is upon us and Nashville's mayoral candidates are strutting their stuff when it comes to fundraising. But is it really just all about the money? The campaign managers and long time politicos will say "Yes, you idiot!," because without big cash you can't buy ads, make signs, throw big events, and do all the gimics necessary to win an election.

Maybe I'm just an idealists, or maybe I've been watching "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" too much, but to me all this talk of money is really just a big ol' waste of newsprint and blog space. We're already doing it with the 2008 presidential race, and we're doing it for the local mayor's race. But at the end of the day, if "Candidate X" has no vision for Nashville or no platform on which to stand, what do I care if he or she has all the money in the city?

Last time I checked it's still January and we still have six months until early voting begins. Before we start looking for white flags of surrender based on finances, let's first hear a bit more about what these candidates actually have to say rather than how much they plan to raise.