Statement of Democracy 21 President Fred Wertheimer on Senator John McCain

 

I join with innumerable others in our country and throughout the world in expressing my deepest sympathies to Cindy McCain and the McCain family on the loss of Senator John McCain.

Senator McCain was a servant of the people in the truest sense of the words and an American hero in many ways.

Senator McCain was a unique leader to those of us who work to curb the corrupting influence of big money in American politics.

In 2000, Senator McCain became the first and only serious presidential candidate in modern times to place reform of the campaign finance laws at the core of his presidential campaign.

From 1995 to 2002, joined by his committed partner, Senator Russ Feingold, Senator McCain led a seven year bipartisan battle that culminated with the enactment of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The Act, also known as the McCain-Feingold “soft money ban,” prohibited unlimited political party contributions in federal elections.

This was the first major campaign finance reform law enacted in 28 years, since the 1974 Watergate reforms, and none have been enacted since then. The McCain-Feingold law worked to accomplish its goals, until a change in the makeup of the Supreme Court led to decisions that returned corrupting unlimited contributions and secret money to our elections.

Senator McCain was a skillful, relentless, fearless leader of the reform battle who relished the fight and willingly endured all of the heat that could be brought to bear on him by a number of his Senate colleagues who wanted to maintain the corrupt status quo.

It was a special privilege to be able to work with Senator McCain in the successful fight to enact the McCain-Feingold law.

The American people owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Senator McCain for his lifetime of exceptional public service to our country and our values.

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Released: August 26, 2018