[nicollo]

REPEAL THE 17TH AMENDMENT!

I consider that one of the most important FR stances of all, which I've been calling for since I joined in '99. Apparently "saner" voices say the 17th was a necessary remedy for corrupt state legislatures and over-representation of rural districts. Doh -- but it merely moved the corruption from one place to another and, worse, entrenched it in urban centers with no structural framework to get around that.

My logic has always been that the direct vote of Senators distances voters from their state legislators, which creates less accountability for them than anything ever before. At-large Senators have zero accountability to minority opposition. My D senators don't have to care about my voice, but they'd have to listen to my representatives who do have to care, even in a D-majority district. I know this from personal experience, btw.

But the 2020 election has demonstrated an even greater need for removal of the 17th: Senatorial elections are just as compromised as the national election, since all they need to do is pump urban votes to win the state EC votes. D's will cheat in '22 as bad as in '20 in order to keep the Senate.

[ProgressingAmerica]

We don't have enough activists to get that done.

I mean, we have enough people. But they don't want to be involved. They haven't wanted it since 2010.

[boxlunch]

I agree. Just thinking of the amount of money it takes to win a Senate seat under the current at large statewide elections, it’s enormous, on the level of presidential elections in some countries! That is a ready made prescription for bribes, payoffs, lobbyist control etc. We must get that repealed so we can balance the power at the federal level again.

What are the practical steps to making this happen? (I dont mean constitutionally how does it work, I mean, how do we convince enough people/states to take this on…) Of course the Deep State would fight like a rabid dog against this, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt try.