Just in case, you think money (a midterm record of approximately - TopicsExpress

Just in case, you think money (a midterm record of approximately $4 billion spent) didnt have a striking effect on our recent midterms in which something like 19% of eligible voters (generally aging and white) swept Republicans into the Senate, governorships, and state houses, heres a figure from PBS on the subject: 94 percent of biggest spenders in House races won, up slightly from 2012; 82 percent of biggest spenders in Senate races won, up from 76 percent in 2012. Working class whites voted Republican in House races by a staggering margin of 64%-34%. (Sayonara, Democrats!) And by the way, in this election, according to OpenSecrets.org, more money came from fewer donors and more of the dollars from secret sources. (The real story of the election’s campaign finance chapter was not which side had more resources, but that such a large chunk of the cost was paid for by a small group of ultra-wealthy donors using outside groups to bury voters with an avalanche of spending.) Hows that for a grim summary of our latest 1% election. Bernie Sanders, of course, gets it and wrote perhaps the most eloquent piece on what hit us that first Tuesday in November. Tom Americans should be embarrassed. The low voter turnout on Election Day last week in the United States was an international disgrace. What has become of a democratic form of government that Abraham Lincoln said was of the people, by the people, for the people? Can we be satisfied with a “democracy” when more than 60% of people don’t vote and some 80% of young people and low-income Americans don’t either? Can we be content when poll after poll shows that most Americans can’t even name the political parties that control the US Senate and House – or who their member of Congress is? Nationwide, preliminary indications show that the total turnout in the US midterms was only 36.6%. If these estimates hold true, 2014 will be the least representative election in modern American history. When billionaires and corporations tilt elections, conservatives suppress voting and crucial voters feel unengaged, what kind of example for the world is that? Americans do better when the presidency is at stake, but a post-World Word II turnout ranging from 52% to 64% is nothing to brag about. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance ranks the United States 120th in the world for average national turnout. In Scotland, for example, 84.6% voted on the independence referendum. In Denmark, 80% of the population at the polls is the norm. In Australia, where voting is compulsory, turnout is even higher. theguardian/commentisfree/2014/nov/10/us-voter-turnout-vs-world-election-day-holiday You can find the $$ info at: https://opensecrets.org/news/2014/11/money-won-on-tuesday-but-rules-of-the-game-changed/ Heres the PBS figure: truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/who-won-in-2014-election-those-who-received-the-most-campaign-money And heres the figure on working class whites and the demise of the traditional Democratic voter: nytimes/2014/11/12/opinion/thomas-edsall-the-demise-of-the-white-democratic-voter.html