Elections Should Not Be Auctions
Progressive candidate Betsy Sweet, one of the two front runners challenging Susan Collins’ Senate seat, talks about canvassing in northern Maine during a fishing derby.
“It was 3 degrees, and there were 1,500 people in ice shacks on a lake. I went ice shack to ice shack, talking to families about politics. They told me they’re mad at the establishment because it’s no longer listening to regular people.”
The anger, she adds, is not just among progressives.
“All kinds of people are demanding that the system work for them. Fishermen and women, people working in our woods, small business owners. Everybody.
“You don’t have to look farther than Medicare for All to see that they’re right. When 87% of Americans believe we should have universal single payer coverage, and in a democracy, we can’t move that forward? There’s something very broken.”
The problem? Big money’s corrupting influence. “Our elections are auctions,” she says.
Betsy Sweet knows a thing or two about money in politics. In 1996, she helped create the first Clean Elections bill in the nation. Today, 62% of Maine legislators are elected through the Clean Elections system.
“We saw big money’s impact on not just the issues we cared about but also on who could run for office. When only the wealthy and well-connected can afford to run, we end up with a government that isn’t representative.”
But the Clean Elections policy doesn’t apply to federal elections, and exorbitant amounts are being spent in her race, both by Collins and by a well-funded, establishment-backed primary opponent. With the primary two months out, over $10 million has already been spent on ads — more than in any other Senate race — with spending estimated to reach as high as $150 million.
“That’s obscene. We only have 870,000 voters. Think of the good we could do with $150 million.”
Susan Collins was the crucial deciding vote on two unpopular decisions: the GOP tax bill that gave billions to corporations and undid most of the Affordable Care Act, and Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court. Sweet believes Collins has “sided with McConnell and Trump over the people of Maine” and should be replaced with a strong progressive who can take on the establishment and the status quo.
“I’m much more in line with the values of Mainers than either my establishment-backed primary opponent or Susan Collins. Mainers are very progressive and innovative. We’ve led the way in democracy reforms, clean elections, ranked choice voting, same day registration and party affiliation. We expanded Medicaid and voted for an increase in the minimum wage. And we support Medicare for All.”
Sweet is the only candidate in the race — including her Democratic primary opponent — who supports Medicare for All.
For Betsy Sweet, who’s spent her entire life fighting for working families across the state of Maine, the time is now.
“This is our moment. Every policy that is being used to get us through this pandemic and the resulting economic collapse are policies that we’ve been fighting for — paid medical leave, Medicare for All, a living wage, helping small businesses. What we are offering is resonating. The people are there, all we have to do is connect the dots.”
