Voting the bums out? Not really.

I just got this from the National Institute on Money in State Politics website:

Despite the anti-incumbency rhetoric around the 2010 elections, 98% of incumbents won their primaries, a figure unchanged from the last five elections.

Hmmmm. So much for new blood.

I’ve never really been able to get behind a ‘vote all the bums out’ movement. It seemed kind of … stupid. Vote out good ones, bad ones, which ones? All of them?  However, I do support term limits and draconian campaign finance reform - all campaigns publicly financed. No contributers ever. Not so much as a tainted dollar.

When our legislators are truly citizen legislators, beholden to no special interests - then perhaps, we could get rid of every lobbyist on K Street. Then we’d have a responsive, effective government of the people and not multi-national corporatrions.

The military-industrial complex would hate it.

I encourage folks that want to take an active, participatory part in their democracy to sign up at the National Institute on Money in State Politics (sheesh. They need an acronym or something!) and noodle around. It’s very enlightening.

-maven