Primary Tuesday: A Day of Infamy for Democracy Reformers that No One Noticed
September 10, 2014 |
(
AlterNet) The political events of Tuesday, September 9, will soon be forgottenif they ever were noticed in the first place. But those handful of people who have been paying attention to the downward spiral of American democracy, theres no nice way to say this. It was a disaster, unless you consider losing everywhere somehow a noble gesture.
What happened? On the three frontlines of the modern democracy reform movement, three different strategies failed to win enough votes to achieve their stated goals. In the U.S. Senate, a constitutional amendment proposal to empower Congress to re-regulate campaign contributions and spending not only devolved into the predictable partisan divides, but Senate Democratic leaders couldnt even keep enough members present, literally a quorum, to keep debating it. A final Senate vote is expected this week, where there is zero chance that it will get two-thirds majority needed to pass.
Examples two and three comes from Tuesdays primary elections in New York State and New Hampshire. In these states, candidates embracing political anti-corruption banners, both of whom were promoted by different slices of the democracy movement, also lost. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2014/primary-tuesday-day-infamy-democracy-reformers-no-one-noticed