US economy

Throw the Crooks Out


This article is part of David Leonhardt’s newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it each weekday.

When Americans are asked what the country’s biggest problem is, the answers vary a lot by political party. Democratic voters say they are more concerned about income inequality, climate change and Donald Trump. Republicans mention illegal immigration, terrorism and the deficit.

But there is at least one subject that members of both parties — and independents, too — consistently cite as a serious problem: corruption.

When an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll asked voters last year what issue would influence their vote for Congress, corruption was in a virtual tie for first place with the economy. When a recent Hart Research poll, done for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, asked people to name their biggest concerns with the federal government, corruption came out on top, with more than 50 percent of both Republicans and Democrats naming it. More specifically, respondents said that the federal government did a lot to help politicians, big corporations, the wealthy and campaign donors.

[Listen to “The Argument” podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.]

You could see the political salience of corruption in the last two elections. In 2016, it was a main theme (along with xenophobia) in Trump’s ads. In 2018, Democrats used an anti-corruption message in their successful push to retake the House. As Caitlin Huey-Burns wrote in RealClearPolitics, Democrats’ promise to clean up “a culture of corruption” was part of “their broader economic message that administration policies benefit the wealthy and corporations more than average Americans.”

Why has corruption become such a big issue in voters’ minds? The main reason is economic. Most Americans are struggling with slow-growing incomes and stagnant net worth — while the affluent continue to do very well. Americans have come to think government is corrupt because the economy’s outcomes look decidedly corrupt.

This concern has created political opportunities. Anti-corruption and pro-democracy measures have passed in red states like Missouri, purple states like Colorado and Michigan and blue states like California. (Unfortunately, Republican politicians in a few of these states have since tried to overturn the measures.)

An anti-corruption message also appears to be one of the most promising themes for the 2020 presidential race. Trump is one of the most corrupt presidents in American history. And several Democratic presidential campaigns have responded with plans to fight corruption.

Many prominent 2020 Democratic candidates — including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker — have promised not to take money from corporate political action committees, at least during the primary. That’s a significant change from the recent past. Hillary Clinton accepted $250,000 in corporate PAC money in 2016.

A few 2020 Democrats, including Joe Biden, Sanders and Michael Bennet, are also supporting anti-corruption proposals. Warren wants to restrict lobbying and to create an independent Office of Public Integrity, which would enforce ethics laws and investigate potential violations. Kirsten Gillibrand favors giving every voter up to $600 “democracy dollars” to donate to federal candidates.

Inveighing against corrupt politics is something of an American tradition. Sometimes, the politicians are simply trying to win votes. Other times — such as after the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s — the country really has tightened the rules. I hope the reaction to Trump helps usher in real change.

For more …

Time’s Alana Abramson has explained how Democrats plan to use “drain the swamp” — one of Trump’s 2016 campaign slogans — against him in 2020: “All of this points to corruption being a key factor in the 2020 presidential race, particularly in the Democratic primary.”

Carrie Levine writes in FiveThirtyEight about the Democrats’ pursuit of small-dollar donors.

In The Times Magazine last year, Charles Homans sounded a note of caution. He noted that voters tend to overestimate levels of political corruption in the United States, and that strongmen leaders often cloak their intentions with anti-corruption rhetoric, much as Trump did in 2016.

If you are not a subscriber to this newsletter, you can subscribe here. You can also join me on Twitter (@DLeonhardt) and Facebook.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.