COMM 317: 'Street money' and public relations

Politics and public relations are different ball games. And, as the pols in Chicago like to say, "politics ain't beanbag." But politicians are engaged in a form of public relations. And it may be that politics would have a better name if politicians acted more like public relations professionals.

It's worth thinking about, anyway. We'll be exploring the question in COMM 317 between now and the end of the semester.

Here's a story in The Guardian about a time-honored political custom in Pennsylvania known as giving "street money" to precinct captains to disburse as they see fit in getting out the vote. I learned about street money when I went to Penn State, and when I saw this story I decided Barack Obama's goose is cooked in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.

You see, Obama isn't paying street money.

As the Guardian's U.S. political correspondent Ewen MacAskill says, street money is "a throwback from the days of old-fashioned Democratic machine politics." It's usually handed out to the precinct captains in small bills. And there's no accounting for it later.

Some questions (and you knew it was going to get around to this, didn't you)?

What are the ethics of this practice?

For politicians? You'll find two different attitudes reflected in the story. Who's right? Who's wrong? What would you do if you had an election to win in Philly?

Would it be ethical for a public relations person working with a political campaign to handle street money? What parts of the Public Relations Society of America's code of ethics would apply?

A related question: Politics is generally held in low regard by Americans. Do practices like street money discredit the profession? Why? Or why not?