Don’t Let Big and Dark Money ‘Drown Out the Truth and Drown Out Your Voice’

Don’t Let Big and Dark Money ‘Drown Out the Truth and Drown Out Your Voice’

Don’t Let Big and Dark Money ‘Drown Out the Truth and Drown Out Your Voice’

The cost of elections today increases the power of the privileged few while diminishing that of working Americans and, as such, harms democracy itself.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

Despite the tantalizing prospect of a wave election in November, Democrats face major structural obstacles to winning majorities in Congress. Recently, the potential impact of partisan gerrymandering has received needed attention, but one issue that is flying largely under the radar is the sheer amount of special-interest money that progressive candidates will have working against them.

Twenty eighteen is expected to be the most expensive midterm cycle in history, beyond the $3.8 billion spent on races in 2014. That number is staggering, but not surprising, given the proliferation of money in politics over the past decade. While both parties have contributed to the current state of affairs, the exorbitant cost of mounting a credible campaign today clearly disadvantages insurgent progressive candidates and their supporters, while bolstering the power of candidates with the most appeal to the donor class. In general, that’s good news for Republicans.

This dynamic is plainly visible in the spending so far during the 2018 cycle. As of this writing, political action committees have doled out nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to congressional candidates this cycle. Thirteen of the top 15 recipients of contributions from PACs are Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Among them are party leaders, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (WI) and House majority leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) as well as vulnerable members from blue states, such as Representative Peter J. Roskam (IL) and Rep. Erik Paulsen (MN), whose races could help swing the balance of power in Washington.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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