Beyond 2016: Midterms Matter

The current issue of Washington Monthly magazine has a timely article by Phil Keisling (summarized here by Paul Glastris) on the challenge facing Democrats in regaining control of Congress:  mustering your voters to turn out to vote in mid-term elections.  With the Rethuglican / New Confederate / Stupid / Shooter's party actively rigging voting laws and re-shaping Congressional districts in a number of states, coupled with low turnout among traditionally Democratic-voting minorities and young voters in mid-term elections, the Rethuglicans -- who consistently lose the popular vote in Presidential elections -- have been able to gain and maintain majorities in Congress. That simply means when we elect a President Clinton or a President Sanders, they would face the same relentless obstruction and sabotage of their agenda, not to mention the chaos that would ensue over the nomination of a new Supreme Court justice or two.

Keisling, who served as Oregon's Secretary of State, proposes Universal Vote By Mail (UVBM) as a big step forward in expanding the franchise, and ensuring that voters pick the politicians and not the other way around as the Rethuglicans would like.  UVBM is law in Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, so it's not "experimental" or untested. Keisling estimates that, if adopted, registered voter turnout could be boosted by up to 15 percent, with double-digit increases among Democratic-leaning 18 to 34 year olds.

It's a strategy that the currently lackadaisical Democratic National Committee needs to put at the top of their must-do list if Dems have any chance of enacting a progressive agenda, and of shifting the direction of the Supreme Court from right to left.