The impact of Campaign Finance Reform on the Quality of Candidates

Of course, this problem is not just experienced by Republicans:

The Hastert machine exhibited the current prejudice of Republican leaders in favor of "self-funders" who can finance their own campaigns, even though they may not be the most skilled of candidates. . . .

Wealthy candidates can find it much easier to raise large amounts of money for their campaign than people who have to go out and raise it from others. My book, Freedomnomics, has a long discussion on this.