You can’t run for president as a Democrat if you’re going to take unlimited cash from corporations.

That’s the lesson Sen. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice First presidential debate to cover coronavirus, Supreme Court Harris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda MORE (D-Calif.) appears to have learned from two weeks of contemplation after first telling a constituent she might take contributions from corporation political action committees (PACs). More recently, she told a radio show audience that she would, in fact, not.

Harris’s decision reflects the growing movement towards a more progressive, grassroots driven Democratic party.

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The current dispute within the Democratic Party is reminiscent of Meat Loaf’s 1993 classic hit ballad, “I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)." The song title’s inherent contradiction captures the split within the party on campaign finance reform. Will you do anything to defeat Trump in 2020, including taking unlimited sums of campaign cash from anyone offering it, or not?

Philippe Reines, a longtime spokesman for Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Senate GOP sees early Supreme Court vote as political booster shot Poll: 51 percent of voters want to abolish the electoral college MORE, perhaps best encapsulates the “whatever it takes” camp. He came out swinging in the pages of the Washington Post with a salvo to future Democratic presidential hopefuls. “Don’t declare you won’t take money from lobbyists,” Reines exhorted. “Take cigarette money. Counterfeit your own.”

He went on to warn, “Don’t hire anyone who says they’d rather lose than stoop to (Trump’s) level. If you say it, get out of the way for someone living in the real world.”

Kamala Harris will no longer accept corporate PAC money https://t.co/BbJUQystEw pic.twitter.com/hXGRoEABSU — The Hill (@thehill) April 23, 2018

It’s safe to say Reines might have been being intentionally hyperbolic about encouraging treasury fraud, but you get his point — there’s no room for moral integrity in presidential politics. There’s nothing inherently wrong with speaking out of both sides of your mouth, outright lying, or deceiving your base, Reines seems to advise.

Yikes.

That might have been conventional wisdom once. But now it’s safe to say that Reines’s point of view is not widely held among Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls. Sen. Harris follows in the footsteps of other previously centrist-leaning Democrats like Sens. Cory Booker Cory Anthony BookerBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into allegations of medical neglect at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand Kirsten GillibrandSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Suburban moms are going to decide the 2020 election Jon Stewart urges Congress to help veterans exposed to burn pits MORE (D-N.Y.), and Maria Cantwell Maria Elaine CantwellHillicon Valley: Zuckerberg acknowledges failure to take down Kenosha military group despite warnings | Election officials push back against concerns over mail-in voting, drop boxes Bipartisan senators call for investigation of popular fertility app The Hill's Coronavirus Report: Mike Roman says 3M on track to deliver 2 billion respirators globally and 1 billion in US by end of year; US, Pfizer agree to 100M doses of COVID-19 vaccine that will be free to Americans MORE (D-Wash.), all of whom have pledged not to accept corporate PAC donations. And they in turn were following the progressive stalwarts of the party, Sens. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersButtigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice Bernie Sanders warns of 'nightmare scenario' if Trump refuses election results Harris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda MORE (I-Vt.) Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenHarris joins women's voter mobilization event also featuring Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda Judd Gregg: The Kamala threat — the Californiaization of America GOP set to release controversial Biden report MORE (D-Mass.), who said no to corporate PAC money a long time ago.

In other words, anyone seriously being considered to win the Democratic Party nomination for president — at least at this early stage — says they're going to do it without corporate cash.

The good news for them? They don’t need it to win.

Bernie Sanders proved the viability of a serious grassroots-funded presidential campaign with his now famous average donation of $27. Millions and millions of ordinary Americans were so inspired by the Vermont senator's progressive politics and apparently honest approach to politics that they became political donors for the first time. That authenticity was rooted in the sincere statement Sanders could make that he never took a check in exchange for a vote.

JUST IN: McConnell considering longer Senate workweeks to keep Democrats from campaigning: report https://t.co/vypNSaEYdK pic.twitter.com/8AOJrtmdsp — The Hill (@thehill) April 18, 2018

Beyond just viable, grassroots campaigns are wildly popular. Note the rising prominence of the Poor Peoples Campaign taking on extreme inequality, or groups like Real Justice taking on criminal justice reform. These social movements are accountable to their wide base of people-powered funding support and reflect the values of their supporters. Voters are looking for the same relationship to their elected officials, a reflection of their values that simply can’t be achieved with the Reines approach.

Corruption has become so mainstream in the American political system that we hardly bat an eye when corporations exert undue influence over elected officials. In the wake of Citizens United, this has become altogether commonplace, although the practice was well established before that landmark 2010 case.

“An honest politician” sounds like a contradiction in terms to many in this deeply cynical political moment. Such low regard for elected officials is absolutely tied to the complete disregard for ethics encouraged by party machinists like Reines and embodied by the current president.

Changing this dynamic means refusing to engage in the inherently flawed race to the moral bottom. It means inspiring disillusioned voters and establishing a positive vision for the country. And it doesn’t require corporate cash.

Josh Hoxie directs the Taxation and Opportunity Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank dedicated to building a more equitable, ecologically sustainable, and peaceful society..