The fight against money in politics has momentum

Travis Bicher | The News Journal

Travis Bicher is the director of legislator and candidate outreach for American Promise Delaware.

The people are gaining ground in the fight for the 28th Amendment to fix our broken campaign finance system.

Back in June, Delaware sent a delegation to American Promise’s National Citizen Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. There we heard from the leaders of many organizations working toward this cause, current and former members of Congress, an FEC Commissioner, authors and activists, farmers and businessmen, teachers and students, all telling us about the corrosive influence of special interest campaign money on our government.

More importantly, we engaged in the discussion, talking about real world impacts, what the 28th needs to say, how to organize a national citizen movement, and how to lobby legislators effectively.

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We put this knowledge and skill into practice on our Lobby Day the following Monday. After a few group pictures on the steps on the Capitol Building, everyone rushed off to one of 70 meetings at Congressional offices. We were raring to educate, build relationships, turn foes to supporters, and supporters to champions.

While AP Delaware had a rough start due to an air raid drill, we went on to have satisfying meetings with staff for every one of Delaware’s legislators in Congress.

There we voiced the myriad concerns that brought us to Washington: the ever-rising but less and less covered cost of vital healthcare; the crippling and unshakeable burden of student loan debt; the influence of the military industrial complex on foreign relations; and the growing wealth disparity and continued handouts for those who already have the most.

These issues are united by a common thread: those with money to spare using it to influence elections and policy at the expense of those without the means to do so.

Fortunately for the First State, our members of Congress are already joined in our cause. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester and Senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper are all co-sponsors on the “Democracy for All” Amendment (HJR31/SJR8), which, if ratified, would overturn the unpopular Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. This would restore to Congress and the states the long-held authority to regulate election spending, and in doing so distinguish between flesh-and-blood people and artificial entities like corporations and unions.

While many American Promise members prefer stronger amendment language favoring average citizens, this resolution covers the most basic elements to regain control of campaign finance.

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But that’s not to discount the candidates looking to break into and fix what they see as a system rigged against those not making large campaign donations. American Promise Delaware has reached out to every candidate in the state running for Congress to ask that they pledge to secure the 28th Amendment, to use their office and platform to push this measure forward however possible.

Two signers so far are hopefuls for Senator Carper’s seat. Kerri Evelyn Harris, his Democratic primary challenger, believes that “we all deserve proper representation, and the way we’re going to get it is making sure that a small group of wealthy families and corporations don’t control the power. We must remember that above all else, this nation was set up for each of us to have one vote. Doesn’t matter if we have $1 in the bank, $1,000 in the bank, $1 million or $1 billion.”

Demitri Theodoropoulos, the Green Party’s candidate facing Carper in the general said, “After doing much research on this and having a background as an engineer, I always want to find root cause. Every time I go to a problem that this country has, it’s about money in politics, and it’s got to change.”

Both have taken the additional step of refusing corporate donations to their campaigns in lieu of seeking small-dollar donors, a move mirroring the actions of a growing number of Senators. The other candidates contacted have so far not responded to requests to sign.

If you have the chance, ask the candidates you’re following if they support campaign finance reform, and a Constitutional amendment to get to it. More importantly, mark Thursday, Sept. 6 and Tuesday, Nov. 6th on your calendar and vote as if our democracy depends on it!