Last night, at the opening dinner of the Yearly Kos Convention in Chicago, Senator Dick Durbin gave a taped welcome to the 1,500 people in attendance. What did he spend his time discussing? His Fair Elections Now Act!

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has announced her support for public financing of federal elections on the same day she broke records for first quarter fundraising the presidential race, taking in $26 million. Although she opted out of public financing for her White House bid, she does believe it's the ultimate reform to pursue.

David Sirota, author of Hostile Takeover, writes on TomPaine.com that now is the moment to push for full public financing of federal campaigns. There are encouraging circumstances - and some roadblocks, of course - that could make the legacy of the 2006 elections an end the legalized bribery masquerading as our campaign finance system.