The Democrats Need to End the Addiction to Political Money

In the 1990s, Bill Clinton turned the Democratic Party on to campaign cash from Wall Street and lobbyists. This year, as Hillary Clinton called for ending “the stranglehold that the wealthy and special interests have on so much of our government,” the Democratic National Committee rolled back restrictions banning donations from federal lobbyists and political action committees. This obsession with raising money at all costs has skewed the Democratic party brand and alienated huge swaths of voters.

What party operatives, pundits and pollsters have repeatedly failed to recognize is that voters are angry at the cozy relationship between big money and the political establishment. This election, that anger finally reached a boiling point, fueling the meteoric candidacies of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Americans want to know: Why do hedge fund titans still pay a lower tax rate than middle-class Americans? Why did President Obama pass an industry-friendly health care overhaul instead of the one he originally promised? Why have no top bankers gone to jail for the financial crisis? When it comes to making government work for the little guy, voters see a Democratic Party that for eight years has been all talk, no action.

Yes, the Republican establishment is also deeply beholden to the same big-money interests. But the 2016 presidential election was less about party than about insiders versus outsiders. Because of Clinton’s reliance on wealthy donors, her calls for change rang of poll-driven opportunism. Donald Trump, meanwhile, got enough earned media coverage to eschew a traditional fundraising program and spend more time communicating directly with his constituency.

If the Democratic Party hopes to win in the future, it must take a bold, unrelenting stand on behalf of working Americans, donors be damned. It must dare to buck Washington convention, replacing rhetoric with action and becoming a party of, by and for the people.

This will take more than fighting for middle-class issues. Democrats must fix the “rigged” political system that enables the auctioning of our democracy to the highest bidder. They can start by embracing the 13 political reforms passed at the ballot by voters this Election Day. These reforms overhauled campaign finance, ethics and transparency laws across the country, giving voters a stronger voice in their government.

Democrats can follow this lead by committing to citizen-funded elections, creating a pathway for candidates to get elected without relying on big-money donors, and overhauling voting laws to end gerrymandering and enable independent and third-party candidates to run and win office. Until they do, voters will continue to punish the party for its inaction and hypocrisy.

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