Of the many pressing issues this election cycle, there is one that must be addressed first in order to accomplish much of anything else: the issue of democracy itself. Without fundamental reforms to how our political system operates, complex problems like climate change, racial injustice and economic inequality will only worsen as our elected officials continue to cater to wealthy donors rather than serving the interests of “We the People.”
People For the American Way joins our allies in calling on Lester Holt, the moderator of the first presidential debate on September 26, to ask Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump about their respective plans to deal with the issues of unchecked money in politics, efforts to undermine the functioning of the Supreme Court, and attacks on voting rights. The American people deserve to know what their next president will do to deal with these structural problems that hinder progress on countless issues facing our nation.
Take money in politics as an example. Hillary Clinton has made reforming the current campaign finance system a key pillar of her campaign ever since she announced her candidacy. She has called for a constitutional amendment overturning Supreme Court cases such as Citizens United, a small-donor matching system, and increased disclosure of political contributions. Furthermore, while she would prefer to reach bipartisan agreement with Congress, Clinton has said that absent such agreement, she will use her legal authority to issue an executive order requiring government contractors to disclose their political spending.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has yet to offer any proposed solutions. While he consistently rails against a ‘rigged’ system, he has failed to explain how he would address this issue. If anything, he has boasted about how much money he has donated to politicians in the past, and how they were always “there for me.” Bragging about participating – and benefitting from – pay-to-play politics is hardly a case for reform, let alone an agenda to implement reform.
On September 26, the nation will tune in to watch the first presidential debate of this cycle. Democracy issues have already been cemented as a pivotal theme this election cycle, particularly given the quest for reform that fueled the campaign of Bernie Sanders, educating an entire generation of voters on the perils of Citizens United and our country’s big money system. If Lester Holt and NBC want to set the course of conversation in the right direction, and strike at the root of many problems that are of great consequence to the American people, they should commit to ensure that we #FirstDebateDemocracy.