Campaign

I’ve been a small business owner for more than 25 years. So it’s fair to say I’ve been around the block. I also happen to live in the Chicago metro area, so I know a thing or two about hard-nosed politics.

The story of our American democracy has been the fight to make sure that every citizen’s voice is heard; that each of us can claim equal ownership of the government we’ve formed together. But the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has threatened that fundamental notion by allowing secretive special interests to make limitless and secret campaign donations, secret donations then give them an unfair advantage over the average voter.

In his dissenting opinion to the United States Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, now-retired Justice John Paul Stevens wrote, “A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.”

Mayan legend holds the "end of the world" will occur as 2013 begins, spurring apocalyptic catastrophes. In fact, a recent Reuters poll found one in ten people believe the world will end this year. Ironically, like many Americans and ancient Mayans, Washington talking heads believe the end of the world is coming in December. Instead of apocalyptic natural disasters, Washington’s "fiscal cliff" is man made: a series of tax increases scheduled to occur the same time as the automatic spending cuts known as the sequester.

The Supreme Court’s decision upholding the health reform law is the healthcare version of Y2K. The build-up, the anticipation, the belief that something momentous would occur, and then…nothing. The Court’s ruling was the least disruptive ruling possible.
 
The status quo reigns.

Conventional wisdom regarding Hispanic voters is likely to be rewritten by the 2012 elections. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s split decision on the Arizona immigration law, following on the heels by Obama’s easing of the deportation rules for young Hispanics, the Hispanic vote has never been more front and center in our politics.

More than 300 women, a record high, have filed to run for Congress this year, which means a likely gain of female members come November. In addition to greater parity for women--who’ve been chronically underrepresented--more women in Congress could bring another benefit: Less gridlock.

Female senators have a markedly more bipartisan vote record than their male peers do. Moreover, studies in personality research find that women are more cooperative than men, more willing to compromise, more empathetic and, moreover, more polite.

One hundred years ago, the people of Montana raised their voices and voted to close the door on corporate money in politics. On Monday, without even hearing arguments, the Supreme Court kicked the door open, allowing corporate dollars to flood the Treasure State's elections. Lost between the rulings on Arizona’s immigration law and the Affordable Care Act is the most dangerous threat to our democratic process since the Citizens United v. FEC case of 2010 – and few people seem to have noticed.

Another tremor of reform rattled a few political windows in California last week. Whether that portends a full scale quake and the collapse of the fortress the two political parties have erected to keep out invaders remains to be seen.

With last Tuesday’s test of the new open primary system – where all candidates appeared on a single ballot and the top two vote-getters from each district advanced to the general election regardless of party affiliation – California has taken another small step towards more political choice for voters and more accountability and competition for our politicians.

Last Tuesday was a terrible night for unions and a bad one for Wisconsin Democrats. After staking so much time, money and effort on the removal of Governor Scott Walker, the party saw almost an exact repeat of his 2010 election. For jubilant Republicans, despite losing control of the state Senate in the recall, this result confirms the strength of their message. For Barack Obama, there is a very different reaction. While he can’t be happy the Democrats lost, the vote totals and polls can allow him to breathe a sigh of relief. He is probably in no great danger of losing his electoral votes in the Badger State.