MDN STATEMENT CALLING ON ALL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO CLARIFY PUBLIC FINANCING AND OTHER REFORM POSITIONS

The Midwest Democracy Network, a coalition of over 20 Midwestern civic groups working in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, today issued the following statement:

“This past week, several media reports referenced a Midwest Democracy Network (MDN) federal political reform questionnaire that was issued in September 2007. While the focus of the questionnaire has centered on answers submitted by Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, it should be noted that the campaigns of Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator John McCain, Governor Mike Huckabee and Congressman Ron Paul have yet to answer a single question from the questionnaire.

“The MDN respectfully calls on Senators Clinton and McCain, Governor Huckabee and Congressman Paul to join Senator Obama in responding to the MDN federal political reform questionnaire by Tuesday, February 26, 2008.

“As voters in Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont prepare to go to the polls on March 4, it is critical that voters know where the remaining candidates stand on a raft of key issues including public financing of presidential campaigns, government ethics, lobbying, media policy, election laws, and redistricting.

“This questionnaire offers the candidates a nonpartisan forum for laying out their positions on these important issues prior to the ultimate nomination of candidates for the general election. And as a result, a number of other organizations-most notably, Common Cause, Public Campaign, and several state League of Women Voters and PIRG organizations-have joined in the call for candidates to respond.

“The President of the United States has a special responsibility to defend and preserve the values, institutions and practices that are so essential to a well-functioning democracy. At a time when young Americans are once again putting everything on the line to make the world safe for democracy in far away and dangerous places, it is not unreasonable to expect presidential candidates to tell the American people how they plan to move us all closer to the more perfect union our nation's founders envisioned.”
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The full questionnaire, background papers, and Senator Barack Obama’s and former candidate Senator John Edwards’ response to the questionnaire can be found at www.midwestdemocracynetwork.org.

A Call to Action from America's Heartland

If you accept Tip O'Neil's maxim that all politics is local, then a new book on reform efforts in five Midwestern states is must-reading. Democratic Renewal: A Call to Action from America's Heartland outlines how reformers in very different political cultures are trying to address threats to democracy.

Edited by UIS Professor of Political Studies and Public Policy Kent Redfield, Democratic Renewal looks at how political cultures diverge within the Midwest and how those cultures affect efforts to enhance voters' role in the political process.

Reformers are at work in a range of areas, including campaign finance, redistricting, judicial elections, ethics and corruption, broadcast coverage of politics and elections, and election administration, and Democratic Renewal localizes each of these efforts in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

The Illinois story not only recounts the state’s recent history of political corruption, but also addresses weak lobbying laws, uncompetitive elections, restrictive ballot access and the concentration of power in the hands of legislative leadership. Despite the many problems Illinois faces, the book also highlights recent victories in the cause of reform, including adoption of the 1998 Gift Ban Act and the 2003 State Ethics law.

The book is released under the aegis of the Midwest Democracy Network., an alliance of reform groups in all five states, including ICPR. Copies of the book are available through MDN.