Our Broken Democracy, in One Headline

"Warren's criticism of Wall Street poses fundraising dilemma."

The "Warren" in the headline is Elizabeth Warren, who proposed the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau but was not allowed to run it. (That job went to former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who is generally more amenable to the President's position on not actually protecting consumers.) Warren is now contemplating a Senate run in Massachusetts against Republican Scott Brown, who was "dubbed 'Wall Street's Favorite Congressman' in a Forbes article last year" and has been "stockpiling campaign cash in anticipation of a tight 2012 race."

But whence will Warren's campaign cash come? That's the "fundraising dilemma."

If Warren runs, she will have to decide whether to court high-rolling donors in the financial services community — an awkward choice both personally and politically, given her carefully crafted image as antagonist to big finance.

"I think it's pretty clear she's going to run the classic, grassroots campaign here in Massachusetts," said Mary Anne Marsh, a longtime Democratic operative in the state. "That means she's going to rely on folks here to give low-dollar donations here a number of times."

But without the support of heavy-hitting donors in Massachusetts, many of whom work at hedge funds and other financial firms, Warren might find it difficult to keep up with Brown's fundraising juggernaut.

Which, thanks to the Supreme Court, has the capacity to be more juggerynautery than ever.

If you can't win without the financial backing of corporations, if there is even the reasonable assumption that you can't win without the financial backing of corporations, our democracy is functionally dead.

In other words, our democracy is functionally dead. RIP.