political philanthropy ftw... happy birthday paige
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Hi Friend,

 

This tweet got me thinking. 

For those of you who don’t know, that’s Joe Biden’s press secretary. In the 24
hours since they announced Kamala Harris as the vice president nominee, the
Biden campaign raised 26 million dollars. 


It got me thinking: that’s a helluva lot of money. In 2016, over two billion
dollars were spent in the presidential race alone. 

 

What kind of change could we make if nonpartisan election reforms were funded
at similar levels? 

 

This week’s big thing: a new way of thinking to repair our political system
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.Traditional political donations and classic "philanthropic" causes are only
the first steps to creating a better political system. A new type of
philanthropy, political philanthropy, coupled with a different way of thinking
about politics, has the potential to provide long term solutions to our
political discord.


Now onto the things.

In case you didn't get the hint
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Unite America board members Marc Merrill and Kathryn Murdoch published a piece
in Fortune about political philanthropy: the nonpartisan commitment of
financial resources to reform organizations, campaigns, and candidates working
within the political system to foster a more representative and functional
government.


“Regardless of which party prevails in November’s election, the misaligned
incentives between governing in the public interest and getting reelected will
remain in place, absent fundamental reform,” they write. “The result will be
continuing political dysfunction and inability to plan for entirely predictable
crises, from our changing climate to our growing federal debt.”


Instead of continuing to fund a broken system, Murdoch and Merrill argue that
the next “big bet” that philanthropists must make is on political reform to
repair our broken system. We’ve seen reform happen before; it’s on us to see it
happens again.



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Yes, Americans do actually want to vote by mail
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In a new blog this week, we break down a 50-state study from researchers from
Northeastern University, Harvard University, Rutgers University, and
Northwestern University, who looked at how voters actually feel about voting at
home. 


Unsurprisingly, they support expanding vote by mail (64% of Americans, to be
precise). 


The mandate for policymakers is clear: Americans want to vote, and they want
to vote safely, from home. And unless action to fund a vote at home election is
taken soon, our postal service, our county clerks, and our elections are going
to be underwater. Check out ourblog here
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. 



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Politics happens behind the scenes, too
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Partisan gerrymandering is one of the biggest scourges on our democracy today.
Self-interested politicians, eager to maximize their own power while minimizing
the power of their opposition, are allowed to draw congressional and state
district maps, and in doing so, create a system where some voters’ voices
matter more than others.

 

In a column for the New York Times
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this week, Thomas Edsall breaks down how gerrymandering has created an
inherent inequality in states throughout the union. Instead of one person, one
vote, Republicans and Democrats have created a system in which voters’ voices
are purposefully wasted, while others have an outsized influence.

 

With a census upon us, the time to act is now. In places like Virginia, voters
have the chance to end partisan gerrymandering by putting the redistricting
process in the hands of a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Learn more
about independent redistricting commissionshere
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BONUS: Some fun reads <>

Daily, I get questions from people asking what news sources people should be
checking out, and what resources are out there for people looking to learn
more. On a semi regular basis, I like to use Three Things to share those out
with you. 


I’ve already told you about my love of The Fulcrum <[link removed]>, and
Ground News’s Blindspot newsletter <[link removed]>.
Adding to that list,Tangle <[link removed]> is a newsletter that
breaks down the biggest stories and presents the best sides from either side.
Allsides <[link removed]> presents readers with multiple stories
from across the bias spectrum on the same topic. I highly encourage everyone to
sign up for these newsletters!


If you’re looking for other pieces to show people to get them engaged in
nonpartisan political reform, I encourage you to check outUnRepresented
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Nick Troiano.New this week is a film called Stars and Strife
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understand how we can move forward to put country over party. It’s available to
watch VOD, and would make a terrific weekend watch.




That's all I have this week. Thanks for reading.

 

Brett
__
Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO PUT COUNTRY OVER PARTY
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