Sex, drugs and political money

Introduction

You smuggle marijuana in the handbag of a leading Democrat’s wife.

You pass out drunk underneath your desk when the House of Representatives’ minority leader comes looking for you.

You even blow off a campaign event for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., to play video games.

And yet, you still go on to become the Democratic National Committee’s head of fundraising.

These are just a few of the many revelations about political fundraising chronicled in the latest episode of C-SPAN’s “After Words,” a BookTV program guest hosted by Center for Public Integrity Senior Political Reporter Dave Levinthal.

The program’s subject: the new book Political Mercenaries by Lindsay Mark Lewis, who last decade rose to the top of Democrats’ fundraising structure before abruptly quitting.

He’s now executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Progressive Policy Institute and a strong advocate for campaign finance reform that would limit the amount of time politicians spend raising money.

Watch the hour-long program, which first aired last weekend.