For Democracy Marchers the Next Battle Is on the Home Front

In the face of congressional inaction, protest leaders urge a focus on state and local battles.

By Kathy Kiely | April 19, 2016


A broad coalition of organizations joined a march for voting rights and campaign finance reform at the U.S. Capitol, where more than 1,200 were arrested during the course of a week of civil disobedience. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Under the breathtaking gold gilt ceiling and crystal chandeliers of the US Senate Russell Caucus Room, scene of the Army-McCarthy hearings and the Senate’s explosive inquiry into Watergate, a motley group of would-be lobbyists huddled on Monday morning, hoping to make some history of their own. They did not look like your standard denizens of Washington’s Gucci Gulch. Most wore walking shoes and the casual attire appropriate for a protest march. Some carried backpacks. One clutched a sleeping bag.

As they made their way through the corridors of the US Capitol complex, they peeked out windows to admire the courtyards below. They marveled at the size of the cafeteria where they lunched. But when they got into their representatives’ inner sanctum, they were not cowed. “How many corporate lobbyists have been in here?” one asked his congressman’s chief of staff. “I’m here because America shouldn’t be an oligarchy,” said another.

The scene vividly summed up the promise and the challenges facing the self-styled democracy movement that brought together hundreds of disparate organizations to demand expanded voting rights, campaign finance reform and a new Supreme Court justice. After two weeks of marching and more than 1,200 arrests, the activists appeared to be in broad agreement: Their work is just beginning.

“We’re in the process of building what I think is the largest movement for democratic reform in decades,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21. But Wertheimer, whose work on campaign finance reform dates back to Watergate, cautioned patience. “This is not a fight that is going to be won tomorrow,” he said. “These fights often take a good bit of time.”

http://billmoyers.com/story/for-democracy-marchers-the-next-battle-is-on-the-home-front/