There are a lot of differences between the Republicans and the Democrats, and we’re hearing a lot about them from the podium in Charlotte, especially on health care, gay rights, abortion rights, and immigration.
But there is another stark difference—and that’s on campaign finance.
The Republican Party platform was bouncy with joy at the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and opposed any effort to dilute it—or the power of money in politics. In fact, the Republican platform called for torpedoing what’s left of McCain-Feingold, raising or eliminating all limits on campaign contributions, and opposing any requirement to disclose who is giving what.
By contrast, the Democratic Party platform decries the Citizens United decision and says, “We believe we must take immediate action to curb the influence of lobbyists and special interests on our political institutions.” It wants disclosure of contributions. And most importantly, it says: “We support campaign finance reform, by constitutional amendment if necessary.”
President Obama himself is moving toward this crucial remedy, as Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post notes.
In a discussion on the Reddit website recently, Obama said: “Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United.”
That’s a promising development.
In a campaign year where both parties are swimming in obscene amounts of private money, at least Obama and the Democrats grasp the fact that this is not what democracy looks like.
If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story “Paul Ryan Has It Wrong on Where Our Rights Come From."
Follow Matthew Rothschild @mattrothschild on Twitter