Michael Bennet abhors Washington, D.C. Or, at least, what it has become.

He says it’s his disgust for the way the nation’s capital operates that has sparked a desire to make the federal government, especially Congress, function again. That has become one of his central campaign promises as Colorado’s senior U.S. senator runs for president.

He hinted at it early on the campaign trail by bashing his ultra-conservative peers in Congress. His new book is a dressing-down of all things D.C. Now, days before the first Democratic presidential primary debates, he has released a plan to “reconnect the government to the people.”

Among the more than 40 to-dos on this platform: a constitutional amendment to limit spending on elections, end gerrymandering and restore voting rights to individuals upon release from prison.

“So much of what we got to get done — from climate to health care to changing the tax code — is going to require us to change the way our politics works,” Bennet said on a conference call with reporters late this week.

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He added: “For the decade I’ve been in the Senate, it largely hasn’t worked at all. Our plan responds to that by taking on the corruption in Washington and at the same time strengthening our democracy. It attempts to take the money out of politics and put the American people back in.”

Bennet’s pledge to clean up Washington isn’t unusual. Nearly every presidential candidate makes it a point to say he or she will heal the divided nation. Several of the two dozen Democrats running for the party’s presidential nomination have their own political reform agenda. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for instance, has called for a lifetime ban on lobbying for retired members of Congress. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has made campaign finance reform a signature issue.

But Bennet’s plan is perhaps the most comprehensive and specific, advocates for such reforms said.

“This is the sweep of things we absolutely need,” said Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs for Public Citizen, a political nonprofit that advocates for government reform. “Voters will reward candidates who come out early and loudly on this topic.”

There is evidence to suggest a growing momentum to address some of these long-standing issues.

Several 2018 congressional candidates ran on an anti-corruption message, and one of the first pieces of legislation the new House Democratic majority introduced was a package of reforms to make voting easier, strengthen ethics rules in Congress and increase transparency for presidential inaugural committees.

More recently, an unlikely bipartisan duo, Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, have agreed to work together to push for a lobbying ban.

“I hope they look at my plan,” Bennet joked.

The problems and the plans

Bennet knows too well the influence of money in politics, which he says has “soured” Americans on democracy.

His 2010 election came right after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision often known as Citizens United, which opened the floodgate for unlimited corporate money to be spent influencing elections. Bennet’s Senate race against Ken Buck — who now represents Colorado’s 4th Congressional District — saw more outside spending than any other Senate race that year at $35 million.

Outside spending has only grown since then: Nearly $90 million was spent on Florida’s U.S. Senate race in 2018.

Bennet has championed a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, and it’s at the top of his new proposal.

Another policy he has long supported and made a centerpiece of his campaign promise is a lobbying ban on former members of Congress. Currently, an estimated 430 retired Senate and House members are actively lobbying, according to OpenSecrets.org, an organization that tracks money in politics.

Analysis by The Atlantic found that one in six members of Congress who retired in 2016 went into lobbying.

Getting money out of politics is only the first part of Bennet’s plan. He also wants to reform the way congressional boundaries are drawn and drastically expand and protect voting.

He plans to establish online voting registration, require states to offer same-day voting registration and make Election Day a national holiday. What’s more, Bennet pledged to increase resources for the Department of Justice’s civil rights division to monitor voting infringement.

And he wants to help states transition to rank choice voting, which allows voters to choose more than one candidate in order of preference. Bennet said this form of voting, which only Maine is beginning to roll out statewide, will increase competition.

While the president can direct more resources to the Justice Department to monitor voting rights, much of Bennet’s plan would need congressional approval if he were elected. For many of his bigger ideas, he will need to get the states on board, too.

Bennet acknowledged this but sees it as an opportunity, not a challenge.

“As president, I would use the bully pulpit for these reforms in every corner of the country,” he said. “I would go to conservative areas of Florida that voted to re-enfranchise ex-felons and talk about how we should do that nationally. I’d go to the mountain West and talk about how we need to drive foreign money out of our country. And I’d go to small towns all over America so that people would know that the agenda in Washington is going to be run by them, not lobbyists.”

Trump promised to fix D.C., too

It’s hard to remember a president or presidential candidate who hasn’t — in some way — promised to fix Washington.

George W. Bush, a Republican, promised to “change the tone” in D.C. And in one of his first steps toward running for president, Barack Obama said, “We have to change our politics and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.”

And President Donald Trump famously promised to “drain the swamp.”

“One of the reasons why Donald Trump had an opening is because people have recognized the system is failing,” said Chris Edelson, a political scientist at American University in D.C. “This is a system in real danger.”

Edelson, who did not review Bennet’s plan, cautioned presidential candidates against thinking they can fix America’s political system on their own. But, he said, Bennet’s ideas to promote “more democracy” are necessary for the solution.

“The most important divide isn’t Washington versus outsiders, it’s not even left versus right,” he said. “The most important divide is whether you support constitutional democracy or not.”

While Bennet and advocates for reform point to an overwhelming body of polling that suggests voters are hungry for change, there are skeptics.

Lu Ann Pedrick, a Polk County, Iowa, Democratic leader, said she thinks most voters are skeptical of promises to change Washington.

After Trump promised to reform the capital but instead hired corporate CEOs and millionaires for his Cabinet, she said, “I wonder if anyone will believe that.”