http://www.salon.com/2017/06/27/make-democracy-great-again-rep-don-beyers-revolutionary-bill-could-transform-how-we-elect-congress/
Whoa. Ha! Yes>>>
How do you evaluate the health of our democracy in this moment, in this . . . era?
I choose to look at the . . . phenomenon as a blip. One of those historical outliers and explained by many, many different things. Some of it is just the coarsening of our culture. Look at how many penises are chopped off on “Game of Thrones” or “House of Cards” — pushing reporters in front of the metro. But also it’s the fact that in an economy that’s doing very well, there are people that aren’t.
Were the Democrats to take back the House, do you feel there is an appetite to take on these kinds of small-D democratic reforms? Or would it be the same thing you saw in Virginia: Our turn to be in control!
There’s going be some of that, too. I can see the leadership right away saying, “Beyer, play this out! If we pass this, do we still have control of the House?” I think that would be the first question. They would say this, too: “We have a lot of other important, good things we want to do first.”
It reminds me of John Tanner, the former Tennessee Democrat, who introduced a comprehensive redistricting bill when Republicans had the House, then again when the Democrats took it back in 2006 — and met with the same indifference from leadership both occasions.
Well, there will be a lot of good ideas that come forward. One of them may be that we pass this with an effective date six years or eight years down the road, so that it won’t affect the people that are there. It won’t affect most of them. Perhaps there’s some way to slow it down.
At least part of the argument for Republicans who are in charge is to say, Well, someday you’re not going to be in power. So let’s think long term about this. It’s going to take vision and also a certain amount of self-sacrifice. But how different the country could be over 20 or 30 years if we enacted this!
I want to know what this power gives them.
I'd like a list.
I'd like a list.
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| party pooper |
It’s broken; it’s too partisan; it’s hyperpolarized. But you think it’s fixable.
Yes. We can do multimember districts and get rid of the tyranny of gerrymandering. We can do instant runoff so that minorities are really reflected in Congress. We can get rid of a lot of negative campaigning and a lot of the role of money — which everybody hates. People hate having to make call after call asking for money. And if it takes 20 years, it’s worth it.
I’m trying to have modest expectations and a real sense of humility. We’re not just going to flip on light switches for everybody. But little by little, we can make this change.
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| Multi-partisan for the future? |
