Hillary Clinton just announced her long awaited presidential bid. And for supporters of campaign finance reform, this is a very big deal.
Why? Hillary Clinton put campaign finance reform at the forefront of her campaign.
Calling it one of the “four pillars” of her platform, Clinton’s attention to the aftermath of Citizens United is a good sign for supporters of a more transparent, accountable electoral system.
“We need to fix our dysfunctional political system, and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if it takes a constitutional amendment.”
~ Hillary Clinton, April 14, 2015
Presidential candidates, especially those who will receive as much publicity as Clinton, have an incredible opportunity to shape the debate and dictate media coverage of certain topics. By focusing on campaign finance reform, she almost assures that this issue will become one of the most hotly covered of the cycle.
Clinton has a long history with Citizens United. The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC actually started when the right-wing lobbying group Citizens United (not to be confused with End Citizens United!) wanted to air a film bashing Hillary Clinton and to advertise it on TV — a violation of election law at the time.
Hillary has a chance now to fight back, using her historic candidacy to make campaign finance reform a major issue in 2016. Not only would it be good for her candidacy, but it’d help bring us closer to reform.