This morning, columnist Richard Cohen of the Washington Post vigorously endorses publicly funded elections and calls on the presidential candidates to make it happen.
His main point is that identifying the problem and voicing a need for "change" will not, by itself, solve the problem. A further implication here is that the "change Washington" message works so well right now because voters desire a real, fundamental change in the way our politics work--but that achieving that change will take tangible solutions and vision, not just a good message.
Change. Change. Change. Change. Change.
How? How? How? How? How?
I'm glad you asked.
First, do some harm -- and I mean real harm. Break the system we now have, in which every two years most members of Congress have to raise millions of dollars to win reelection, in which senators must do the same every six years and presidential candidates every four. Institute the public funding of elections, an idea whose time has surely come. Theodore Roosevelt suggested it in 1907.
My only quibble with Cohen is that he fails to mention that a vehicle for this change is already in place: the
Fair Elections Now Act, with bipartisan sponsors and a strong coalition behind it.
But Cohen's logic is right, he places the blame on the system and not the candidates trying to work within it, and he highlights that it's only getting worse without enacting public financing. It goes without saying that it's especially significant to have Cohen, a columnist who positions himself as middle-of-the-road and holds court in one of the major newspapers in the country, choosing this overheated primary season to be a moment to make a stand for major campaign reform. Bravo.
