Political activist finishes walk to Capitol

Move to Amend wants amendment to nix corporate political contributions

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An 81-year-old Sarasota woman finished a 400-mile walk from her home to the state Capitol on Wednesday to draw attention to a growing movement to get money out of politics.

Rhana Bazzini began her walk 52 days and 430 miles ago.

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"I can't believe I've actually done this, and I'm actually walking up to the Capitol," Bazzini said. "There is a very surreal element to it."

Bazzini arrived with a hundred or so supporters. Along the way, Bazzini met with lawmakers and picked up a following. Her goal: Get the money out of politics.

"People from the tea party to the Occupy Movement support the idea of getting money out of politics," Bazzini said. "They don't always agree on how to do it."

This is a national movement, and ideas for fixing the problem range from giving tax credits to small political donors to passing out $50 vouchers to be given to your candidate of choice.

"The have perverted our constitutional right to self governance," said David Cobb, founder of Move to Amend, which wants a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would prohibit corporate political contributions.

Lawrence Lessig is a Harvard professor who did a poll that shows 96 percent of responders hate the money in politics, but 91 percent believe nothing can be done.

"They're already convinced," Lessig said. "They already believe the government is corrupted, and all we have to do is show them there is a way to fix it." 

Bazzini acknowledges it's an uphill battle.

"Yea, of course it's going to be hard," Bazzini said. "It probably won't happen in my lifetime. I'm 81. They tell me I'm going to live to a hundred. That would be very nice. Maybe if I live to a hundred, it will come to pass." 

Bazzini said it was just bad timing that her walk finished after the election. She said she wished she'd finished before the election when there was more attention on money, but then she added, 2016 is just around the corner.

The next stop for the movement is New Hampshire in January where supporters hope to get on the radar of presidential candidates.

The movement began with a dozen people in a living room. It now has more than 300,000 members across the country.