I've written often about my conviction that getting big money out of politics is the necessary precursor to anything like a meaningful democracy in the United States. Most recently, it was in "The Impasse":
I continue to believe that purging the electoral system of private money is the key to everything. If big business and entrenched privilege are deprived of the power to pressure and influence officials with money, the political playing field becomes far more level. I endorse Move to Amend and The Occupied/Saving American Democracy Amendments offered by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ted Deutch, for instance, and others working for that end.The issue just hasn't grabbed the popular imagination yet. The fault must be the way it's being framed, in not yet being able to tell the story with enough force, clarity, and depth to bring it home. It feels like there's an answer on the tip of my tongue, as if I were reaching for a forgotten name in the instant before it bubbles to the surface of memory. But what is it?
Live and learn. I pursued this line of questioning with my friend Ludovic Blain III, who is one of the smartest people I know, and whose work with political strategies and campaigns equips him with ample data to back up his observations.