“Follow the money.”

That sounds like good advice when you want to know who’s behind a campaign or initiative doesn’t it? That’s part of the reason behind some of our campaign finance laws. Knowing who’s funding a campaign is important… if you assume that all money is corrupt… and if the campaign is for a person rather than an idea.

I’m not so sure that the same applies to initiatives. After all, most initiatives are about ideas, not people. Take for example, Washington’s initiative 1000, the so-called “right to die” initiative. The initiative’s supporters call it the “Washington State Death with Dignity Initiative”. The initiative’s opponents refer to it as “the assisted suicide initiative”.