David Broder: California Switch Could Affect Elections Nationally
[David Broder is a columnist for the Washington Post.]
An impromptu transcontinental race has begun, with nothing less at stake than the future of the American political and governmental system....
Early on, the Founders worried about the splintering capacity of "factions," by which they meant private interests of all kinds. In the Industrial Age, that danger focused on corporations and, later, on labor unions. The result was a series of enactments, culminating most recently in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, restricting the flow of private funds to federal campaigns....
I think our history suggests that the cohesive power of parties is the only real offset to the narrower agendas of interest groups -- as we witnessed in the recent health-care fight. It takes a strong party to overcome the lobbies.
The latest chapter in this historic struggle has just begun, and it is possible that those who are trying to limit the influence of lobbies and strengthen the political parties will find ways to recoup. But for those of us who think that "faction" is the danger and that political parties are at least part of the solution, this is a scary moment.
Read entire article at WaPo
An impromptu transcontinental race has begun, with nothing less at stake than the future of the American political and governmental system....
Early on, the Founders worried about the splintering capacity of "factions," by which they meant private interests of all kinds. In the Industrial Age, that danger focused on corporations and, later, on labor unions. The result was a series of enactments, culminating most recently in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, restricting the flow of private funds to federal campaigns....
I think our history suggests that the cohesive power of parties is the only real offset to the narrower agendas of interest groups -- as we witnessed in the recent health-care fight. It takes a strong party to overcome the lobbies.
The latest chapter in this historic struggle has just begun, and it is possible that those who are trying to limit the influence of lobbies and strengthen the political parties will find ways to recoup. But for those of us who think that "faction" is the danger and that political parties are at least part of the solution, this is a scary moment.