Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:35 am
Democrats often talk about overturning Citizens United, but Joe Biden has gone a step beyond and called for eliminating private money in federal elections.
Former Vice President Biden tweeted:
Eliminate all private dollars from federal elections.
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Overturn Citizens United and end dark money groups.
Ban lobbyists from donating to candidates they lobby.
It's time we ensure our government works for the people — not just the powerful.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 18, 2019
Every single Democratic candidate supports overturning Citizens United. Biden called for the election of private dollars from federal elections. It is a change that if it ever came to be would take power out of the hands of big money private donors, the kind that Trump is relying on to fund his run for reelecton, and hand it back to the people.
Biden didn’t phrase it this way, but what the former vice president was getting at was the public funding of federal elections. The best way to avoid a messy court challenge is to restrict public funding plans to federal elections.
A publicly-funded federal election system would place both parties on equal footing, and make elections about a contest of ideas, not dark money ads and fundraising. The other change that needs to happen is legal limits on the length of campaigns. Presidential primary elections shouldn’t last for a year and a half. Presidential general election campaigns don’t need to be five or six months long. The process has changed from a post-Labor Day to first Tuesday in November sprint to a general election marathon where conventions will be held in the summer before people vote in November.
The best way to drain the swamp that so many people like Trump live in is to turn elections back over to the people by getting the private cash out, and transparency in.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
