I doubt Republican Trevor Potter meant the statement that follows to be scary or threatening to us actual citizens who don’t have a ton of money to offer to candidates but who do vote.
Indeed, when I first read it I thought his honesty–even given that it’s sort of sociopathic (“random billionaire”???)–was dumb.
But the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was an opening nuclear bomb drop from the Koch Bros Final Solution to Democracy.
Here’s what Potter said, as printed on the top right of the New York Times TOC page [I’ve bolded the entire thing, it’s that huge]:
QUOTATION OF THE DAY
“It just takes a random billionaire to change a race and maybe change the country.”
–TREVOR POTTER, a Republican campaign finance lawyer, talking in part about Robert Mercer, a major financial supporter of Ted Cruz’s candidacy. [A1]
I’ve provided the link to the Times’s front page story (at the [A1]) about this “random billionaire” and Ted Cruz. I leave you to contemplate its significance to our democracy and the dreadful Supreme Court decision that invited Mr. Mercer in, and made Potter’s off-hand remark so terrifying.