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By Alex Seitz-Wald, Lauren Egan and Eileen Street
WASHINGTON – Leading Democratic presidential candidates on Monday called for the abolition of the Electoral College, allowing criminals to vote and asking secretaries of cabinet to hold monthly meetings.
In the historic Warner Theater, in downtown Washington, the We the People Summit – a forum focused on so-called democracy issues – offered eight candidates an opportunity to entertain one in Washington. one with progressive activists representing unions, the Sierra Club, Parenting Planning and other groups.
Candidates argued that little progress would be made on an issue without fundamental changes in a political system that they described as corrupt and corrupt.
"We may have an article or two here and there, but if we want a big systematic change, it will mean tackling corruption head on," said Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. his bill on ethics that would have "put an end to lobbying as we know it".
Other ideas include making election day a public holiday to stimulate participation, organizing public fundraising campaigns and giving state status – and thus two senators – to the very democratic District of Columbia.
Former Beto representative O & # Rourke presented one of his first separate political ideas at the forum, stating that he would be asking the cabinet secretaries of his future government to hold public meetings every month.
"To listen to you and to be accountable, so that we can give you the floor," said O & # Rourke, who held monthly meetings as a member of Congress.
Like Julián Castro and other candidates, he also called for changing the mode of election of presidents.
"Yes, let's abolish the electoral college," said O & # Rourke. "If we get rid of the Electoral College, we would get closer to one person, a vote in the United States of America."
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Mentioned that earlier in the day, before arriving at the forum, she had introduced a bill to remove the electoral college.
O'Rourke, Warren and other candidates have also strongly rejected the influence of money on politics and called for constitutional amendments to overturn the Supreme Court decision, United Kingdom, authorizing the creation of super- CAP and guaranteeing the right to vote.
Union members, immigrant rights advocates and others traveled from across the country, some bringing young children and many wearing colorful shirts to identify them as members of a trade union or union. 39, a given advocacy group.
"I always say that we have the army to protect us from other countries, but who will protect us against our own country? These protesters are soldiers for the people and by the people," said Alethea Shapiro, a mother of four children from Long Island who stated that she had never done politics until the election of President Donald Trump turned her into an activist.
The organizers of the forum let the public know that they wanted to put pressure on the candidates for progressive questions, but in a friendly way: "we are about the glitter, not the shadow", as said an animator. All candidates were warmly welcomed, without obvious defilement or disturbance, even though Sanders and Warren were the most applauded.
Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Said that Republicans often gave priority to suppressing the right to vote when they took office, as they knew it gave them more political power. She said that Democrats should do the same thing.
"Whenever we take the power of a state legislature or the race of a governor, we should change the laws to make it easier for people to vote," Klobuchar said.
However, some candidates objected to some of the most important structural changes proposed, such as the collapse of the Supreme Court or the abolition of systematic obstruction in the Senate, a procedural measure allowing the minority party to block the law Project.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Said that he would not support the enlargement of the size of the Supreme Court, as advocated by a growing number of progressives, which would allow a Democratic president to to tip the scales in his favor. .
"What worries me is that the next time the Republicans are in power, they will do the same thing," Sanders said.
But he said he was open to other ideas, such as the length of the term of office of the judges or the rotation of members of appeal courts through the Supreme Court, in order bring "new blood".
Senator Cory Booker, DN.J., has given his most virulent defense to date against the obstruction, which candidates like Washington Governor Jay Inslee have called for the elimination because the Democrats will struggle to win back the Senate in 2020.
As the "only candidate of this race living in a predominantly black and brown neighborhood, downtown," Booker worries that uncontrolled Republican power could do for marginalized communities.
"I feel the same sense of urgency," said Booker. "But let me tell you what's bothering me – in my community, if Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Donald Trump had been two years as they had been without me in the Senate and with other noble progressives who fought them with you to prevent the withdrawal of health care, we would have lost the battle … Obamacare would have disappeared. "
Gillibrand, too, said she was concerned about removing the obstruction, telling the crowd that if she is elected president, she "will absolutely hold onto this issue" while warning that "we are running the risk the majority. "
Raul Marquez, a 19-year-old from Salem, Oregon, said he was happy to see the candidates think big about considering participating in his first presidential election.
"There is much more at stake than this presidential election," he said. "I think it was nice and put an end to the fact that most candidates feel like, you know, that's the case."
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