"Until now, corporate interests had to rely on campaign contributions and influence-peddling to achieve their goals in Washington," the candidate, who was unavailable for an interview, said in a statement. "But thanks to an enlightened Supreme Court, now we can eliminate the middle-man and run for office ourselves." William Klein, a "hired gun" who has been enlisted as Murray Hill's campaign manager, said the firm appears to be the first "corporate person" to run for office and is promising a spirited campaign that "puts people second, or even third."

The ad makes a particularly passionate case for why it's necessary to have more direct corporate representation in Congress. It concludes with a rousing call to action: "Vote for Murray Hill Incorporated for Congress -- for the best democracy money can buy."

Consider this article, which appeared in The Economist on March 21, 2010 It was picked up by BBC World Business, which recorded an interview broadcast tonight (East Coast).

THE effort to elect Murray Hill to Congress is a political campaign unlike any other. It is rare for an election candidate to pledge to "put people second, or even third", instead of the habitual first, but then the aspiring representative for Maryland’s 8th District is not a person but a company.

Murray Hill, a public-relations firm, is taking advantage of a recent Supreme Court ruling that granted corporations full first-amendment political rights as people, to help create "the best democracy money can buy."

Despite the Supreme Court’s controversial 5-4 ruling in the "Citizens United" case, which removed longstanding restrictions on political activism by companies, these bids for office still face significant obstacles—not least the requirement that candidates in Maryland be at least 18 years old. Murray Hill is just five. And it is hard to imagine many people voting for a candidate explicitly committed to putting business first. Still, the Murray Hill candidacy does raise an important point about the future of democracy and the role of business within it. The Supreme Court decision appears certain to increase the influence of business in American politics, which is widely perceived as having grown significantly in recent years, and is often assumed, fairly or not, to be a bad thing. Barack Obama, for one, fears that it will "open the floodgates to special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections."

Read both, when you have the time. And check out the Pod cast on BBC World Business News, when it is uploaded later today. The interview is side splittingly funny, and will make you weep.

And, check out the Murry Hill web site...

HT to Calouste