President Obama has sent a wave of terror through the Republican Party by suggesting that the most direct way to get rid of Citizens United is to require mandatory voting by every eligible citizen.
In response to a question about Citizens United, President Obama said:
Now, here’s the problem. Citizens United was a Supreme Court ruling based on the First Amendment, so it can’t be overturned by statute. It could be overturned by a new Court, or it could be overturned by constitutional amendment. And those are extraordinarily challenging processes. So I think we have to think about what are other creative ways to reduce the influence of money, given that in the short term we not going to be able to overturn Citizens United.
And I think there are other ways for us to think creatively, and we’ve got to have a better debate about how we make this democracy and encourage participation — how we make our democracy better and encourage more participation.
For example, the process of political gerrymandering I think is damaging the Congress. I don’t think the insiders should draw the lines and decide who their voters are. And Democrats and Republicans do this, and it’s great for incumbents. But it means, over time, that people aren’t competing for the center because they know that if they win a Democratic primary or a Republican primary, they’ve won. So they just — it pushes parties away from compromise in the center.
I think that — now, I don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly, but I’m going to go ahead and say it now. We shouldn’t be making it harder to vote. We should be making it easier to vote.
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In Australia, and some other countries, there’s mandatory voting. It would be transformative if everybody voted. That would counteract money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country, because the people who tend not to vote are young; they’re lower income; they’re skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups; and they’re often the folks who are — they’re scratching and climbing to get into the middle class. And they’re working hard, and there’s a reason why some folks try to keep them away from the polls. We should want to get them into the polls. So that may end up being a better strategy in the short term.
Long term, I think it would be fun to have a constitutional amendment process about how our financial system works. (Applause.) But, realistically, given the requirements of that process that would be a long-term proposition.
Republicans reacted with predictable terror to the idea that everyone would vote. Sen. Marco Rubio wigged out on Fox News’s Hannity over the idea, “I don’t put anything past him. I mean, there are a lot of things that have already happened that I never thought I would see. Here’s the point he refuses to point out or that he misses: Not voting is also a legitimate choice that some people make. I wish more people would participate in politics, too, but that is their choice. That is the choice of living in a free society.”
Mandatory voting would be the most direct way to neutralize Citizens United. Mandatory voting would also hand the House and Senate back to the Democratic Party. The Republican Party would have to completely change, and the competition for votes in politics would shift to the center. Democrats and Republicans could not exclusively appeal to one side of the ideological spectrum and be successful. Republicans would be forced to move to the center or face extinction.
The entire Republican model for political success is based on conservative millionaire and billionaire donors, and keeping the electorate as small as possible.
When Americans show up to vote, the Republican Party doesn’t win. President Obama’s mandatory voting idea would be the most direct way to return America’s representative democracy back to the people.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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