Justin's Political Corner

In a conference call, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters, “We must amend the constitutional to fix Citizens United.”

Her latest call to action was spurred by Monday’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Montana’s 1912 law limiting corporate spending in political campaigns based on its 2010 Citizens United ruling. The court’s decision led Montana’s governor Brian Schweitzer (D) and Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger (R) to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision.

Pelosi’s press secretary, Drew Hammill, told Raw Story, “We were hopeful that the Montana case would be an opportunity for the Supreme Court to reconsider their decision in Citizen’s United, but they decided not to.” For Pelosi, that decision means a return to her four-point plan called DARE: disclose, amend, reform and elect.

But Pelosi sees both the DISCLOSE Act and discussions of a constitutional amendment as “very much a mobilizing tool,” said Hammill, but everyone knows, “It’s a long journey.” The first step, he said, is “We have to win.”

In the long run, Pelosi sees campaign finance reform as a way to increase diversity in politics. “If we took out the role of money in politics,” Hammill said, “we would have a lot more women and minorities decide to run.” For instance, he added, “If there’s no way for a corporation to come in at the last minute and drop $500,000 on your race, more people will want to run.”

h/t: Megan Carpentier at The Raw Story