Nationwide Vigils Show That The American People Want To Repair Our Dysfunctional Political System

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FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | July 19, 2018freadshot

“The fight goes on.”

Last night, nearly 200 candlelight vigils took place in 39 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico to “Confront Corruption and Demand Democracy.”

The unprecedented nationwide vigils were held to demand that Congress enact sweeping democracy reforms to address the corrupt and broken political system facing American citizens today.

The vigils were sponsored by the newly formed Declaration for American Democracy national coalition, which includes Democracy 21. The coalition is committed to fight for as long as it takes to prevail in a nationwide battle to repair the political system and really drain the swamp in Washington.

The vigils also were designed to drive home that Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s attack on our democracy in the 2016 presidential election must be completed without outside interference by President Trump or by his agents in Congress, who are out to defend him at any cost and regardless of where the facts lead the investigation.

The principles of the new Declaration for American Democracy coalition are focused on a democracy that must:

  • Ensure The Freedom To Vote And Have That Vote Counted.
  • Be Honest.
  • Have Meaningful Participation.
  • Provide Transparency Into Our Government And Our Elections.
  • Be Responsive.

The legislative reform agenda of the coalition includes fundamental campaign finance, voting rights, nonpartisan redistricting, and ethics reforms. The battle for these reforms will begin in the next Congress.

We know that these will be very difficult fights but we also know that the American people are overwhelmingly in favor of fixing our dysfunctional political system.

One of the most important fights ahead involves creating a system to provide public incentives to dramatically increase the role of small contributions in our elections. This is essential in order to dilute the power of big money in American politics and to allow candidates to run for office without becoming indebted to influence-seeking funders. Without such a new system to fund federal elections, we cannot repair the corrupt campaign finance system.

The fight goes on.

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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections.