Populist Reform of the Democratic Party

But I don't think a petition will do it. That still implies they will pass the law/resolution/etc. I'm tired of begging these people to do the right thing. It also bears repeating that McCain was willing to have the campaign be publicly financed because that was one of his pet issues. When Obama backed out, it was the nail in the coffin for politicians to do it of their own volition. There's too much money in it.

So now we have to force them to do it. Some states, cities and counties are putting bills on the ballot (a few have won). Some are asking for a Constitutional Convention which is controversial. I think some are waiting for a new Supreme Court and a kind of reversal on Citizen's United, but now with two decisions in the election finance area, that is unlikely. But something must be done and quite a few realize it is a problem.

We also need to discover for ourselves what we want from our politicians. It's been quite some time since the idea of leaders and how they represent their constituency was defined. We sort of send them to Washington and hope for the best, which more often then not doesn't work (and lo and behold, they keep getting elected). But it needs to be reevaluated. I favor someone like Sanders or Warren because they are very clear and don't seem to be in it for the money, but that is my own bias.