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February 09, 2010

Poll: Public opposes court ruling on campaign finance

By CREW Staff

CREW made its concerns known right after the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in the Citizens United case. Now the public is making it clear that it shares our concerns that this ruling may enable corporate special interests to play a dominant role in elections.

Today's Politico reports on a poll showing that by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans oppose the court's ruling. In addition:

The poll suggests that the ruling has reinforced voters’ sense of disconnect with Washington ...

Asked if special interests have too much influence, 74 percent of respondents said yes. Asked if members of Congress are "controlled by" the groups and people who finance their political campaigns, a whopping 79 percent said yes.

Only 24 percent of the voters said ordinary citizens can still influence politicians, and just 18 percent agreed with the notion that lawmakers listen to voters more than to their financial backers.

And the public's anger at the Citizens United ruling is bipartisan. Republicans disapprove of the decision by a margin of 51-to-37 percent. Democrats oppose the ruling by an even greater margin.

No matter where they live or what party they claim to belong to, it's clear that a whole lot of Americans share the sentiments that CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan expressed right after the ruling:

"Money buys elections and the biggest corporations with the most money will own our politicians. We are moving to an age where we won’t have the senator from Arkansas or the congressman from North Carolina, but the senator from Wal-Mart and the congressman from Bank of America."