E.J. Dionne heralds the rise of the small donor in today's Washington Post, pointing to the Supreme Court drubbing of campaign finance regulation and Barack Obama's successful online small-donor fundraising efforts as evidence that new methods must be explored to adjust the balance of campaign contribution power.

I just got back from the Senate Rules Committee hearing on the Fair Elections Now Act and I'd say it was a positive opening for the bill as well as an opportunity to explain the reasoning behind it and dispel some myths about what public financing would mean for Congressional races. We'll have the video up shortly and Nick Nyhart, our President, will chime in later with his thoughts on offering testimony. Read on for a summary of the hearing.

The San Francisco Chronicle covers the visit of former Sens. Bill Bradley and Alan Simpson who are traveling the country drumming up support for public financing of congressional and presidential races and giving a candidates' perspective on the endless money chase that is the modern campaign.

Amy Goodman uses this op-ed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to take television networks down a notch, accusing them of gauging campaigns for air time, and failing to devote adequate time or attention to actually reporting on the campaigns as they unfold. She points to the Fair Elections Now Act in the Senate as a good measure to shift some of the money lining broadcasters' pockets into other voter education and involvement measures.

No question that one element driving escalating campaign costs is the huge cost of buying TV ad time. St. Louis Today explores provisions in the Fair Elections Now Act which would mediate that cost, allowing candidates to get their message out without spending half their day raising money to run ads.

The first quarter campaign finance disclosures from the Presidential field draws a trio of critical editorials on the subject of the "wealth primary" from The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and the The New York Times.

The Fair Elections Now Act got notice in a couple of stories covering campaign finance issues over the weekend. The Herald & Review talked about the fundraising activity of Fair Elections Now Act sponsor Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL); he knows as well as anyone how big a role fundraising plays, no wonder he's excited about an alternative.

The Chicago Sun-Times has a great article on the Fair Elections Now Act, praising its potential to reign in campaign spending and produce a Congress mroe responsive to the needs of constituents. Overall, a very clear explanation of the bill, and a pragmatic enumeration of its benefits.

Likening the Fair Elections Now Act to a campaign finance revolution, the Philadelphia Daily News heralds the work of Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) in introducing a bill that represents a simultaneously far-reaching and practical solution to the money in politics woes of Congress.

From the editorial:

As we've mentioned on the blog already, Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced the Fair Elections Now Act on Tuesday, legislation that would bring publicly financed elections to the U.S. Senate. Sen. Durbin made the following remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday evening. Join Sen. Durbin in supporting Fair Elections for Congress by becoming a citizen co-sponsor today!

See the full text of Sen. Durbin's speech below: