The Sandwich Democratic Town Committee

A front page story in the Boston Globe on May 12^th presented stark evidence of just how far-reaching the negative impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Citizens United case has become. Under the headline “They go to lead, but courting cash is now job 1” Globe writer Tracy Jan describes a truly depressing (for the health of our democracy) situation requiring newly elected members of Congress to spend significant amounts of their time “dialing for dollars.”

She wrote that “At a party-sponsored orientation session, the freshmen [Democrats]…were schooled in their party’s simple list of priorities for them. Raise money. Raise more. Win.” The freshmen were advised to spend at least 4 hours of each day on fundraising. In the sample or model schedule they were given they would spend 1-2 hours on constituent visits, 2 hours on committees or voting, 1 hour on strategic outreach, and 1 hour for “recharge” time. In other words, 40% of the sample 10-hour day was to be spent on fundraising – and that was the minimum!

Both political parties follow essentially the same procedures with similar demands on their elected representatives. They both maintain telemarketing style “boiler room” facilities in nearby buildings (fundraising is illegal on congressional grounds).

 “The all-consuming quest for dollars is part of Washington’s permanent, intensely waged campaign for party dominance. It cuts deeply into the typical day of lawmakers, robbing them of time they could spend building relationships with colleagues, dealing with constituent problems, and delving into policy issues. It is a major contributor to party gridlock, and keeps lawmakers dependent on the good graces of lobbyists and other special interests seeking favor on Capitol Hill.”

Equally egregious in today’s political environment are the instant attacks on members of the opposite party aimed at setting them up for defeat in the next election, sometimes even before they are sworn into office on the heels of the last election. Newly elected Rep. Rodney Davis (R) of Illinois found his name on a Democratic “hit list” for 2014 two months before he was even sworn into office. Is there any question about why Washington is paralyzed?

All of this did not start with the now infamous Citizens United decision, but that decision flung open the doors to moneyed interests up and down the land and forced everyone to become almost obsessed with constant fundraising and constant campaigning. No wonder we do not see relationship building and effective governance at work in Washington, D.C. any longer. No wonder the influence of money has gotten totally out of control. Time for the American voter to take back the value of their votes and put an end to the unbridled influence of money on American democratic governance.