Blog 14 Don't Vote the Money

The Cogs Blog

I regret very much to have to say it, but I do not think America will ever recover its democracy. Maybe some day, years away, the old commitment to “every man (and woman, too) a free equal citizen”, may surface in a new, better world, but…

I say this because of another law - let’s call it the law of elections. As I said in the previous blog, “Money buys elections.”  

This has been declared part of the American constitution by the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision. Restrictions on campaign spending have been labelled a denial of the right to free speech. Yep. Abraham Lincoln must be spinning in his chair. All that work to preserve a great nation…  And the drafters of the Constitution, which they carefully designed to make tyranny impossible, where are they now?

Can something be done about it? Well the politicians who win after accepting big money from generous donors could just ignore their donors’ legislative preferences. They could just go right ahead legislating for the good of all the people who voted for them, or, even, for the good of all the people in their whole constituency, even those who didn’t vote for them. No, forget I said that. Mere theory or once-upon-a-time thinking. 

So what, then? I suggest we could just test that other hallowed principle, “the people are sovereign.” 

How? Well, I hate to introduce money in the same paragraph with “the people”, but if they pooled a lot of their small change, they could use the media, commercial and personal, to mount a “DON’T VOTE THE MONEY” campaign (DVMC), or a VOTE AGAINST THE MONEY campaign (VAMC), or even hire a pricey ad firm to create a really sweet slogan (ARSS). 

The aim would be to match the most lavish politicians, dollar for dollar,  and persuade voters, particularly the not-moneyed majority to vote against the biggest spender. It might take off at the presidential level, and in subsequent state and civic elections produce some interesting results, like independent or (horrors/cheers!) third party candidates! Voting against the money could even become a popular fad and be reported free on commercial television news. Hmmmnn. that idea didn’t go far. I can tell by the look on your face.

But come on now, don’t pull a long face; think positive. Every great human accomplishment began with someone thinking in a new way.

For starters, how about a contest for the best slogan, logo or cartoon for 

The Movement?

Some entries:

Don’t Vote the Dollars

      Don’t watch the political ads. Just time them.
(There must be an app for that.) 
Then vote: for the one who has spent the least.

You’re voting? Money or Merit?

They can’t buy my vote. I’m counting the money spent.

Let's all pull the rabbit our of the money hat. (cartoon?)

A candidate, in order to win, must get a majority of votes. So, voters, you really do have power. Although Mark Twain is reported to have said, sourly, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” Maybe today he would have said, “Whenever you pause and reflect, you can become part of a democratic majority.”

In the nest blog, perhaps I’ll explain why some Americans during the last two centuries have argued that the United States is not, and never has been, a democracy; they insist it is a republic. What’s the difference? Tune in if you are interested.