Here's a hint: solve the primary problem
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Hi Friend,

 

This time next year, Americans will have just elected a new Congress. No one
can say for certain what the next congress will look like, or how the politics
of the next year will shape the 2022 midterms.

 

… Except we actually do know a lot about what the next Congress will look
like. Roughly ~80% of Congress will represent a “safe” district — meaning that
we can say with a high degree of certainty which party will win the general
election. Another thing we can say with a high degree of certainty? A very
small fraction of Americans will have a role in electing the next Congress. If
2020 voting patterns hold, we may be looking at a situation where just 10% of
Americans effectively elect more than 80% of Congress. 

 

This is the Primary Problem of our politics today
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actually want a shot at influencing who gets elected to Congress, you can’t
wait until Tuesday, November 8th 2022.  For the majority of Americans, the
primary election will determine who represents them. In some states, primaries
will be taking place as soon as March. 

 

There’s no time off in politics. Here are three things to think about this
week: 

What bipartisanship costs
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Late last week, the House of Representatives finally passed the bipartisan
infrastructure bill, clearing the way for the President’s signature on the
first major piece of legislation of his administration. After the Senate passed
the bill in August, Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano wrote about
the struggles of crafting bipartisan legislation in Washington, where the
incentive structure rewards obstructionism
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more than deal-making. 


Now, three months later, we have the proof. 13 Republicans crossed the aisle
to support the bill — providing funding for key projects like improving roads,
securing bridges, and expanding rural broadband access — and nowface the cost
of bipartisanship
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:members of their own party are pledging to run them out of office, and pushing
their supporters to harass them. It’s a horrifying demonstration of just how
far thePrimary Problem <[link removed]> can push
politicians.



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How to make every vote in every election count
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That New Yorkers elected a new city council last week through a nomination
process that was determined through ranked choice voting give us all something
to celebrate. Voters had more choice, voice, and power in their elections as a
result of the switch to RCV for the June primary. However as political
strategist Jared Alper points out, New York City could go a step further to
make sure every vote in every election matters by adopting a nonpartisan
primary. 

 

Because of NYC’s closed primary system, only registered Democrats could vote
in the primary that played an overwhelming role in determining the winner of
the election. As Alper writes, “There are more than 5.5 million voters who live
in New York City, a majority of whom are registered as Democrats. Of those 3.76
million voters, only 25% participated in the June mayoral primary.This group of
roughly 938,000 voters, representing less than 17% of the total registered
citywide, effectively decided the race for mayor more than four months before
Election Day.”



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It’s like a fulcrum strategy
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As major bills have come up for debate in Washington, it’s seemed as though
just a handful of Senators have come into focus with their ability to either
craft compromise, or stop a bill in its tracks. Senators like Joe Manchin of
West Virginia, Krysten Sinema of Arizona, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska have
become fixtures of the media’s attention for their role in pushing bills
through the Senate. 


Now what if these Senators banded together? What if they brought on board a
bipartisan group of fellow consensus builders to cement and formalize their
power?They could act like a fulcrum in the Senate, essential to passing
legislation and capable of creating the bipartisanship necessary to get major
pieces of legislation through. This week, Matthew Yglesias in The Atlantic
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touches on some familiar territory, hypothesizing what a group like this could
accomplish. Read the full piecehere
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.



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Brett
__
Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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