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Why Character Matters
This article is part of our Principled Voter series. Does the character of a candidate matter? In a democracy, it does. “In a president, character is everything. . . . [Y]ou can’t buy courage and decency, you can’t rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with [them].” — Peggy Noonan, 1995 Our form of government only works when leaders respect certain boundaries — like understanding and honoring the rule of law, respecting the balance of power, telling the truth, and treating people with basic respect. Those actions require character. If you could choose your next police commissioner, or the principal of your children’s school, or the…
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Your Vote Is Your Voice — How Will You Use It?
This article is part of our Principled Voter series. Your vote is your voice. How will you use it? You’ve got a lot on your plate — family, finances, work, community involvement, and more! And when you add nonstop news on top of all that, it’s no wonder the majority of Americans outsource their vote to political parties. While more than 40% of voters consider themselves independent, only 4% of registered voters in 2020 said they planned to vote a split ticket, meaning they’d vote for candidates from more than one party. So how independent is your vote, really? Your vote says something about what you value, and it should…
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SCOTUS Decision on Presidential Immunity — An MWEG Interview With Expert Benjamin Wittes
Jessica Larson, MWEG’s senior director of advocacy, recently interviewed Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare and senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, about the recent Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity. Below is a summary of that conversation as well as the full video interview. On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled on presidential immunity in response to former President Trump’s federal indictment. The decision is a historic expansion of presidential immunity, leaving the lower courts with a lot to still determine. Since 1984, the president has had immunity from civil suits for official acts while in office. We have never had a president who…
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A Deeper Dive: Citizens United, Super PACs, and Dark Money
In our introduction to federal campaign finance, we discussed the landmark Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC, which caused substantial waves in the world of campaign finance. Though it has now been more than 13 years since this case was decided, it is important to understand how this decision has influenced the topics and issues at play today. What was the case actually about? Citizens United is the name of a nonprofit organization that created a political documentary called “Hillary: The Movie.” This film was designed to criticize presidential candidate and then-Senator Hillary Clinton. It was scheduled to be released right before the Democratic primary elections in January 2008,…
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Navigating Political Ads: How to Be an Informed Citizen When Lying Is Legal
During election season, political advertisements seem to be everywhere we look. Though some of us may feel a fervent desire to ignore them, it’s not possible to completely escape their reach. Nor should we tune them out entirely, since they present opportunities to learn about candidates and hold our elected officials accountable. Political ads are clearly designed to influence us in a specific way (usually to convince us to vote for or against a certain candidate). The questions we should ask ourselves about the ads we see or hear include: Who is trying to influence us? (i.e., Who paid for this ad?) and, What is their objective? (i.e., What are…
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A Brief Exploration of Potential Campaign Finance Reforms
We have recently explored several of the core issues surrounding campaign finance that undermine accountability and transparency in our elections. After learning about (i) the disproportionate impact of very wealthy Americans on policy outcomes, (ii) the Citizens United case and consequent rise of super PACs and dark money, and (iii) the challenges with regulating online political ads, it is easy to be disheartened and feel pessimistic about the possibility of change. But the truth is, many Americans of diverse political ideologies support campaign finance reforms. If we work together, small acts of advocacy could go a long way in encouraging elected officials to make change happen. In this final piece, we’ll…
