Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislationeven among Republican voters.
By Jane Mayer
March 29, 2021
In public, Republicans have denounced Democrats ambitious electoral-reform bill, the For the People Act, as an unpopular partisan ploy. In a contentious Senate committee hearing last week, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, slammed the proposal, which aims to expand voting rights and curb the influence of money in politics, as a brazen and shameless power grab by Democrats. But behind closed doors Republicans speak differently about the legislation, which is also known as House Resolution 1 and Senate Bill 1. They admit the lesser-known provisions in the bill that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum. In private, they concede their own polling shows that no message they can devise effectively counters the argument that billionaires should be prevented from buying elections.
A recording obtained by The New Yorker of a private conference call on January 8th, between a policy adviser to Senator Mitch McConnell and the leaders of several prominent conservative groupsincluding one run by the Koch brothers networkreveals the participants worry that the proposed election reforms garner wide support not just from liberals but from conservative voters, too. The speakers on the call expressed alarm at the broad popularity of the bills provision calling for more public disclosure about secret political donors. The participants conceded that the bill, which would stem the flow of dark money from such political donors as the billionaire oil magnate Charles Koch, was so popular that it wasnt worth trying to mount a public-advocacy campaign to shift opinion. Instead, a senior Koch operative said that opponents would be better off ignoring the will of American voters and trying to kill the bill in Congress.
Kyle McKenzie, the research director for the Koch-run advocacy group Stand Together, told fellow-conservatives and Republican congressional staffers on the call that he had a spoiler. When presented with a very neutral description of the bill, people were generally supportive, McKenzie said, adding that the most worrisome part . . . is that conservatives were actually as supportive as the general public was when they read the neutral description. In fact, he warned, theres a large, very large, chunk of conservatives who are supportive of these types of efforts.
As a result, McKenzie conceded, the legislations opponents would likely have to rely on Republicans in the Senate, where the bill is now under debate, to use under-the-dome-type strategiesmeaning legislative maneuvers beneath Congresss roof, such as the filibusterto stop the bill, because turning public opinion against it would be incredibly difficult. He warned that the worst thing conservatives could do would be to try to engage with the other side on the argument that the legislation stops billionaires from buying elections. McKenzie admitted, Unfortunately, weve found that that is a winning message, for both the general public and also conservatives. He said that when his group tested tons of other arguments in support of the bill, the one condemning billionaires buying elections was the most persuasivepeople found that to be most convincing, and it riled them up the most.
-/snip-
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislationeven among Republican voters.
By Jane Mayer
March 29, 2021
In public, Republicans have denounced Democrats ambitious electoral-reform bill, the For the People Act, as an unpopular partisan ploy. In a contentious Senate committee hearing last week, Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, slammed the proposal, which aims to expand voting rights and curb the influence of money in politics, as a brazen and shameless power grab by Democrats. But behind closed doors Republicans speak differently about the legislation, which is also known as House Resolution 1 and Senate Bill 1. They admit the lesser-known provisions in the bill that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum. In private, they concede their own polling shows that no message they can devise effectively counters the argument that billionaires should be prevented from buying elections.
A recording obtained by The New Yorker of a private conference call on January 8th, between a policy adviser to Senator Mitch McConnell and the leaders of several prominent conservative groupsincluding one run by the Koch brothers networkreveals the participants worry that the proposed election reforms garner wide support not just from liberals but from conservative voters, too. The speakers on the call expressed alarm at the broad popularity of the bills provision calling for more public disclosure about secret political donors. The participants conceded that the bill, which would stem the flow of dark money from such political donors as the billionaire oil magnate Charles Koch, was so popular that it wasnt worth trying to mount a public-advocacy campaign to shift opinion. Instead, a senior Koch operative said that opponents would be better off ignoring the will of American voters and trying to kill the bill in Congress.
Kyle McKenzie, the research director for the Koch-run advocacy group Stand Together, told fellow-conservatives and Republican congressional staffers on the call that he had a spoiler. When presented with a very neutral description of the bill, people were generally supportive, McKenzie said, adding that the most worrisome part . . . is that conservatives were actually as supportive as the general public was when they read the neutral description. In fact, he warned, theres a large, very large, chunk of conservatives who are supportive of these types of efforts.
As a result, McKenzie conceded, the legislations opponents would likely have to rely on Republicans in the Senate, where the bill is now under debate, to use under-the-dome-type strategiesmeaning legislative maneuvers beneath Congresss roof, such as the filibusterto stop the bill, because turning public opinion against it would be incredibly difficult. He warned that the worst thing conservatives could do would be to try to engage with the other side on the argument that the legislation stops billionaires from buying elections. McKenzie admitted, Unfortunately, weve found that that is a winning message, for both the general public and also conservatives. He said that when his group tested tons of other arguments in support of the bill, the one condemning billionaires buying elections was the most persuasivepeople found that to be most convincing, and it riled them up the most.
-/snip-
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
4 replies, 1475 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (20)
ReplyReply to this post
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century (Original Post)
Dennis Donovan
Mar 2021
OP
At least we know Profile in Courage winner Mitt Romney will stand up for what is right.
Midnight Writer
Mar 2021
#4
cynical_idealist
(360 posts)1. So important to reduce the influence of dark money
We need this bill to pass for every reason.
dalton99a
(81,566 posts)2. Kick
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,397 posts)3. This is the battle of the century -- billionaires versus us voters.
Midnight Writer
(21,782 posts)4. At least we know Profile in Courage winner Mitt Romney will stand up for what is right.
Sorry. To see Mitt Romney receiving an award for courage, above all other politicians, just sticks in my craw.