"Your vote should always matter more than the dollar"

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Author warns of negative politics
By Crystal A. Weyers, March 10, 2014

John Nichols believes politics in America have become an affront to democracy.

He called on citizens to fight for an amendment to the Constitution that would put the nation's elections in the hands of the governed.

Nichols, a well-known journalist and author, spoke for two hours Sunday afternoon at the Portsmouth Public Library. Nichols is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for The Nation magazine and author/co-author of several books, including his latest, "Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America."

To Nichols, politics in America have become a spectator sport because of the massive inflow of money pumped into the political machine.

"This has created a reality where rational decisions are taken off of the table," he said, claiming that those with immense amounts of money are able to shut down open political discourse by creating a game plan, or agenda, that cannot be altered.

Nichols explained how his study of U.S. history and his time as a political journalist have illustrated just how fixed that game really is. He said even when progressive ideas are brought to the table, they are brought halfheartedly. This is done so as not to upset stakeholders in the game. With this system in place, Nichols doesn't see much of a possibility for significant structural change in how American politics operate.

He said the No. 1 voter suppression method is this inflow of campaign money.

"Incredibly low voter turnout is defined by incredibly wealthy people," he said. "If we want to get mad about something, this is it."

With each election, Americans are turned into consumers of large quantities of political advertisements, primarily on television.

With their negative approach, these ads most often tell citizens who not to vote for. Nichols said the ads aren't trying to sway voters to vote for the other party, but instead, not to vote at all.

"It's driving people out of the political process," he said. "That's what we've made of our politics."

For decades, different groups of Americans have fought and even died for their right to vote. Now, they are again being pushed out of the game because of income barriers, Nichols said.

He cited the increasingly large amounts of money being spent on campaigning, $11 billion during the 2012 presidential race. Yet with more and more money being spent, still only about 50 percent of Americans go to the polls for the largest elections.

In other countries, he said, that isn't the case. Nichols said Norway has banned the airing of political advertisements during elections by calling it propaganda. Yet, nearly 80 percent of Norwegians go to the polls.

"None of this is going to stop," Nichols said. "Every year it's going to cost more and more. We've seen some of our very best people in politics unable to leap that boundary."

Nichols then directed his focus to Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, who was in the front row of the audience.

"Carol Shea-Porter should not be in the Congress," he said. "She should not be there."

Nichols explained that Shea-Porter was able to break through the money barrier to politics without accepting corporate dollars.

"The change has to come from us," Shea-Porter said. "No one can rescue us. We need to work harder."

Shea-Porter went on to say that she doesn't believe structural change can be introduced from the top-down, but instead has to start at the individual level.

"Just because you can't hear it, it doesn't mean the grass isn't growing," she said of small grass-roots efforts. "We can create this change." Since it was first written, the Constitution has been a document that has been amended.

"We are constant Constitution amenders and that's a good thing," Nichols said. "We adjust to progress ... We can amend our Constitution. We have the ability and the requirement to amend our Constitution."

Nichols said the greatest threat to the corporate way of politics, or "dollarocracy," is the "will of the people." He said he wants to see "big money" taken out of politics.

He also wants to see a rise in political journalism to make Americans more informed, or rather less misinformed.

"The reality is at the local level," he said. "We have a media system that has become so dysfunctional that huge portions of Americans lack the information to vote."

He said he would like to see politics covered "at least as seriously as sports."

Arnie Arnesen, a former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, stood up and reminded citizens that "you have to lose, lose, lose before you can win."

"If you lose saying something, you don't lose," she said.

Nichols said the movements are there. More energy just needs to be put into making a political process that reflects the popular will.

"Your vote should always matter more than the dollar," he said.

The event with Nichols was sponsored by the library, Water Street Bookstore, State Rep. Marcia Moody and Granite State Progress, a "multi-issue progressive advocacy organization promoting progressive values through online organizing, media outreach and networking with New Hampshire's leading progressive organizations."
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