Electoral Reform Mike Mansfield 1903-2001
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Mike Mansfield Speeches Mike Mansfield Papers
6-17-1968 Electoral Reform Mike Mansfield 1903-2001
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This Speech is brought to you for free and open access by the Mike Mansfield Papers at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mike Mansfield Speeches by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 87288 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- SENATE June 17, 1968 Any person who wishes to testify or with a measure calling for a single na [Mr. PEARSON] would allow Just that. It submit a statement for Inclusion In the tional primary. is not a new proposal. Over the years record should communicate as soon as The persidentlal primaries under our many such measures have been intro possible with the Subcommittee on Im present happenstance system find the duced and a number are pending this provements In Judicial Machinery, room great confrontation of candidates In Congress. The Senator from Indiana r Mr. 8306, New Senate Office Building, Wash areas that often represent less than a BAYH] and the Senator from Maine ington, D.C. valid cross section of the American peo [Mrs. SMITH] have advocated such a ple. The candidates, although competing procedure for sometime, as have the for the delegate votes which they may Senators from Florida [Mr. SMATHERS 1 COMMITTEE MEETING DURING not receive even If victorious, are at and North Dakota [Mr. BuRDICK]. They SENATE SESSION ,, tempting to demonstrate to the coun and others have advocated reforms in Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I ask try their broad appeal to the people. our electoral college system, even its unanimous consent that the Subcommit What better method is there to demon abolition. I wish to join these Senators tee on Antitrust and Monopoly of the strate broad appeal than to permit all In stimulating further study of these Committee on the Judiciary be per voters to demonstrate their preference? matters in hopes of revealing the short mi~ to meet during the session of the Under our present system, we seem to comings, the inequities, and the Inade Senate today. be blindly seeking a choice of a nominee quacies of the electoral college. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without emmeshed in a maze of conflicting State In my remarks last Tuesday I also ObJel::tion, it is so ordered. law and dubious custom and practice mentioned extending the franchisP. of the that preclude a rational popular choice ballot to young adults, 18 years and over. at this most critical point In our election The arguments have been set forth more ORDER OF BUSINESS process. fully for this proposal than for any of Mr. MANSFIELD. M . President, I ask The net result is that a great deal of the others; the right to vote simply would ~ous conse at I may be per- money is spent to achieve an apparent be given to those who are compelled to nut~d to proc for approximately victory in a few prunary States; the ef fight our wars but have no voice in select 10 minutes, g which time there fect may be fatal for the underflnanced, Ing the officials who make the policies w11J be a oquy between the distin- understaffed candidate and the American that lead to war; to those who are treated l!"Uiahed or Senator from Vermont voter Is left bewildered and confused, un as adults by our civil and criminal courts - and f. initiated to the political ploy and coun and are made to suffer the full penalties RESIDING OFFICER. Is there terploy and ready, justifiably, to make of the law yet have no opportunity to tion? The Chair hears none, and It the charge: "political manipulation." I choose the officials who make the Jaws. ordered. hope that any study along these lines will I think it is about time we faced this issue also renew the effort to achieve a real squarely. istic proposal for the financing of presi ELECTORAL REFORM Senate Joint Resolution 8 would pro dential primaries and elections. With a vide the necessdry constitutional change. Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, on national primary I feel much could be ac That resolution is now pending before Tufsday of last week, I offered to the complished to avoid what so many peo the Constitutional Amendments Subcom Senate some comments concerning what ple have characterized as the "circus" at mittee-the Bayh subcommittee. Hear I feel are the Inadequacies, the inequi mosphere that surrounds this frantic ings have been held, and I would hope ties, In our electoral system. The pro delegate hunt and the extravangza of a that the measure could be reported out posals I then made were neither new, nor convention. A national primary could re by the subcommittee and by the full com original with me. But the response re place the convention completely. How mittee so that the Senate could consider ceived-from the press and public ever, a national convention would have such a change before the 90th Congress soW"Ces and from interested citizens greater direction If it were held after a closes this year. acl"066 the land-has reinforced my own national primary especially if the dele I mentioned further in my remarks last personal belief that the time has come gates thereto were disciplined by the re Tuesday the suggestion that the Office of to investigate seriously some of our sults of the primary from their State. the Presidency be limited to one 6-year basic electoral procedures. I do not pro The plan offered by Senator AIKEN, term. This Is not a new proposal. I do pose the ultimate solutions but I do be Senator PEARSON, and myself also calls believe that any investigation of the lieve that a fresh and far-reaching study for the abolition of the electoral college. electoral system must include the term of the electoral system touching at least The case has been made and there is of the Presidency while considering the the areas where I have attempted to pre little to add. I would only say that It is methods of his election. One cannot sepa cipitate discussion is at the least neces a measure of our political confusion to rate the effects of partisanship after the sary and long overdue. day that we still face the prospect of election when considering the issue of Eliminating the electoral college and having a President who does not repre partisanship before the election. Any allowing the people to elect their Presi sent the people or even the election re study should include the demands of dent directly; extending the franchise sults of the States from which the elec partisan politics and the burdens of seek of the ballot to young adults 18 and tors were sent. Plainly and simply, this Ing renomination. The single 6-year term older; and replacing our circus-like is the fallacy of the electoral college. is the case in Mexico. It has worked well party conventions would be a consider Abolition of the electoral college would and it should be considered. The distin able improvement that I believe would eliminate the bloc State voting. The guished Senator from Vermont [Mr. withstand the test of any objective study. changing world has had its effects upon AIKEN] and I are offering a resolution Today I shall Introduce recommenda the structure of the Presidency. The fact that provides for such a constitutional tions for constitutional reform along Is that the interest of the constituency change so that this aspect may rightly be these lines and joining me, I am happy rests directly In the office of President as Included In the investigation. to say, are the distinguished Senator the representative of the electorate's from Kansas [Mr. PEARSON] and senior With the introduction of these valious views rather than the views of a region. proposals to supplement those that have Senator from Vermont [Mr. AIKEN], To continue the electoral college Is to whose status as the ranking Republican already been introduced, the investiga deny the cohesiveness of the 50 States tion can begin. It can encompass all the in this body and whose long years of po as a national unit--to Ignore the evolu litical experience and public service add aspects of Presidential politics. The study tion of our Nation technologically and is long overdue. a great deal to this dialog. We hope ldea!oglcally. that these proposals, along with those The State are represented by two Sen The tragic events of the past days have previously introduced by many of our ators, the cities and the districts by shocked and saddened us beyond expres colleagues will provide the nece55ary ve their elected Congressmen. The people sion. Robert Kennedy was a man of great hicles to conduct the investigation long should be represented by the President, energy and great capacity for seeking overdue. and he should be elected by popular new Ideas and new approaches to very First of all, ·we ask that the Senate vote. old problems. Our shock and sadness review the nominating process and offer The proposal I am introducing along could be no better channeled than to ex a plan to replace the present happen with the Senator from Vermont [Mr. press it as he would- In a constructive stance primary and convention system AIKEN] and the Senator from Kansas search for solutions.
Mike Mansfield Papers, Series 21, Box 44, Folder 40, Mansfield Library, University of Montana Ju.ne 17, 1968 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- SENATE 87289 I pt"'PC))Ied last Tuesday that a restric Even 1! the trend Is arrested, though, there chlnery that Is operating so uncertainly be tion should be considered on the open ex still will be reason to reappraise the nation's fore the 1968 decision Is made. method8 o! choosing Its leaders. It 1s possible The moot Important Item In the Majority po8UJ'e of our presidential candidates. I to alter thoee methods. In ways that would leader's galaxy of reforms Is the direct elec appreciate the desire of the candidates to promote both candidate safety and Intelli tion of the President and VIce President. For n1ee\ the people directly and of the peo gent publlc choice. without endangering the tunately. this now has widespread public Pl• to be In the presence of these candi country's tradition of freedom. support. The alternatives have been exhaus tt.\e£. But the tragedies of the past 5 The Idea that candldat<'s should drop In on tively studied, and most of the authorities yeare have demonstrated the inordinate almost every hamlet and s11ake as many who have been warning us for years about risk. The appointment of a Presidential hands as they can grasp Is. after all. of rela the perlls In the outmoded Electoral Colle;;e Commission on Violence demonstrates tively recent origin Campaigns that stretch are now ready to accept direct election of the that there are questions that must be over me.ny moo ths are something that ear President and his running mate, without any ller Americans never 1 resaw either. This wobbling and manipulable device between answered about the use of violence process certainly endangers public figures ex them and the people. Congress has been too against our public figures. I believe also cessively; no matter bow careful the security slow 1n sending this reform. already embodied that there is something wrong in our so measures, a candidate will still be at the 1n a ce.re!ully worked out constitutional ciety that must be corrected. I do not be mercy of an assassin who 1s will1ng to take amendment, to the states tor ratification. lieve that this country is sick beyond the consequences Much more difficult Is the Mansfield rec cure, that our society's illness is terminal. Aside from that, the present setup simply ommendation for Nationwide primaries to I do believe, however, that a cure for the serves the nation poorly. The Incessant cam be held on a single day for nomination of "1olence against our public figures is not paigns drain the physical energy of men who, presidential and vice presidential candidates. 1! they attain office, w.lll need all the strength Unilke thes direct-election amendment, this yet avaUable and to deny that something they can summon. When governors, Congress proposal has not been carefully worked out. must be done--as an Interim measure- men and other elected officeholders tramp Despite much talk o! abolishing the national to utlllze the potential of mass com the country Interminably, moreover, their party conventions, no group has yet devised munication and restrict the risk to our constituents e.re denied their services for far a system of uniform primaries that has won national leaders Is to prejudge that the too long. anything like a consensus. Additional work status quo is an acceptable norm for this The lengthy campaigns have also helped will have to be done on this reform. and society. to balloon political budgets, enlarging the there would be no point 1n holding up en I hope the Interest In these proposals risk that the cand!dat.es who attain office will actment of the direct-election amendment will not dissipate with the passage of be beholden to their biggest contributors. untll this more troublesome problem has It·s a problem that cannot be completely been solved. ttme. For time is no longer unlimited. solved; no one wants to Isolate a candidate Extension o! the right to vote to 18-year Mr. President, on behalf of the distin somewhere In a scaled room. But wiser use olds In every state, a reform that Is spon guished Senator from Vermont [Mr. of television and other modern communica sored by Prooldent Johnson and many others, AIKEN] and myself, I send to the desk tions media should make It possible to cut 1s In a very different category. It can be, and a Joint resolution to change the term of down on the hand-shaking should be, promptly approved. The country the Presidency, and on behalf of both I! that were done, 1t should be possible to seems to be ready !or 1t. No complicated of us and the distinguished Senator from cut down on the length of campaigns as well. machinery would be necessary to put It Into Kansas [Mr. PEARSON] I send to the desk Britain manages to pick Its governments In effect. another joint resolution seeking to estab a matter of a very few weeks, and there's no As for Mr. Mansfield ·s other proposal, a evidence that Its political process suffers single slx-yee.r term !or the President, It lish a national primary and requiring the thereby. might better have been left 1n his secret file. direct election of the President. The grim eYent of this week clearly offers Having limited every President to two four The PRESIDING OFFICER. The jolnt fresh reason to dispense with elongat.ed po year terms only a few years ago, Congress Is resolutions will be received and appro lltical circuses. not likely further to shorten the time In priately referred. which an administration can carry out Its The joint resolutions, Introduced by (From the:Ualtlmore (Md.) Sun, program. This controversial Item serves only June 17, 1968] to detract !rom the constructive reforms to Mr. MANsFIELD, for himself and other which the Majority Leader has lent his TIME To CHANGE Senators, were received, read twice by support. their titles, and referred to the Commit Senator Mansfield speaks for many 1n and Another lte"m that may well be eliminated tee on the Judiciary as follows: out of politics when he calls for a whole new from any action program Is the Mansfield 6..1. Rae. 178. .Joint resolution propcalng an procedure for nominating and electing Presi suggestion that presidential campaigning be amendment to the Ooalstltutlon ot the United dents. The existing system 1s nonsensical and restricted to television and radio. This is not Statee relating to the term o! office o! Pres dangerous. The state prlme.rles are expensive a matter that can reasonably be regulated by Ident a.nd VIce Prooi Mike Mansfield Papers, Series 21, Box 44, Folder 40, Mansfield Library, University of Montana 87290 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- SENATE June 17, 1968 script, Mansfield would confine public ap dence alone. Whether the risk of assassina or any other form of representative govern pearances by presidential candidates to TV tion In such a setting was as great as It ment. and radio, thus abarply reducing campaign seemed may be open to question; President With the coming of one-man, one-vote ing hazards. Kennedy was movJ.bg In an automobile when procedures In apportioning legislative repre These are all thought-provoking Ideas. he was shot and Senator Kennedy was In sentatives, the last good reason for retaining For each there Is an ample set of pros and the relatively restricted kitchen of a large the electoral college Is dlsa.ppeart:qg. The cons. It Is a serious question, for example, and expensive hotn. activities of Senator McCarthy's youthful whether the candidates can be shut oft from Perhape wEW>.ave too many people and too army have shown bow ready and eager are their constituents without losing the per many obsessions-too many people already American 18-year-olds for the vote and the son&l contact that, up to now, has been the deranged or on the fringe of Insanity-to fuller participation In society that It rep essence of our political system. May be this permit a President or even a candidate for resents. 1s necessary In these turbulent times. maybe President to walk In crowds or even to ap But Americans ought to scrutinize with not. All the Mansfield proposals, however, pear unsheltered In public. It will be hard extreme care any proposal either to lengthen need the most careful consideration. to accept this as Rn ything more than an a Presidential term (suppose It were Lyndon Memo to Congress: Why not appoint a emergency measure, yet people In the cities Johnson's?) or to limit any President to but joint Senate-House committee to make a have learned not to wa lk alone after dark one term (which would not only rule out the thorough study and to come up with some and otherwise to con d 1tlon themselves to only men qualified by experience. bpt change conclusions? The American political system this era of reckless crime and violence. tbe nature of the office). has served us well In the past. But as times Raising the level of our presidential cam And even If, to the disappointment of Ken change, institutions must change. too. This paigning by taking it out of the streets Is nedy and McCarthy supporters, Humphrey would be a good time for Congress to make a a dlfterent matter. It will be a national gain wins the 1968 nomination with a bag of non fresh appraisal of the machinery of Ameri 1t this Is done, even without reference to the primary delegates, there ought to be equal can politics. threat of volence. I am not referring here to caution about doing away with the conven open-air meetings and motorcades through tion system In favor of the national primary. city streets, but to the street corner and (From the Baltimore (Md.) Sun, June 17. CONVENTIONS USEFUL 1968] store-to-store kind or handshaking cam paigning which Senator Kefauver perfect A convention does, for instance, provide a CAHPAIGNrNG BY PHYSICAL CONTACT ed In New Hampshire In 1952. natural party forum In whlob a platform can (By Gerald Grimn) Mr. Kefauver, a big folksy man, shambled be cooperatively written, and In which pres There has &!ways been something demean through the primaries so tirelessly and suc sures exist to cboose candidates who can Ing, and wasteful as well In terms of time cessfully that other candidates, notably stand on It, thus loosely framing a national and energy, about a candidate for the presi Adlai Stevenson In 1956, had to match him party identity. It gives room for maneuver dency a! the United States campaigning In In tbls technique. Often they went Into bar' to party leaders who want a broad- based the streets like a candidate for county bershlpe and lunchrooms to grab the bands Pres!~tial candidate, and If no such man aberlft. This Is something relatively new In of bemused voters. The returns never have has presented himself It gives the leaders an Amer1can politics, ha~ been orlglna.ted seemed worth the price. opportunity to put pressure on him (as they la.rgely by the late Senator Estes Kefauver of A certain dignity is properly associated did on Adlai Stevenson In 1952). At Its best. Tennessee, and It would be no great loss to with the presidency. It Is nice to shake a convention both tempers and consolidates our system now 1!, In our renewed concern hands with a President or a candidate for sheer factional strength within a party. for the safety and security of our publlc that otllce, but It Isn't everything. He should National primaries raise many problems. men, It is stopped. be elected on the basis of his capacity to be Where do the independents go? Either they But 1t because a! this same concern a President, and this has mucb more to do would be excluded from tbe nominating much wider restriction must be placed on the Wllth the quality of his mind than the process (as It Is now, Independents at least appee.rances of Presidents and other leaders warmth of his grip. have bad the Indirect participation of having at public ge.thertngs--at outdoor meetings or to be taken account of by the delegates to a In street parade&-<>ur national llte will be [From the New York Times, June 16, 1968] convention), or forced to choose a party &fleeted and our poU.tlcal system will be sub Identity. Is either option desirable? Go SLow, MIKE MANSFIELD Wbat about multiple entries? These might stantially ch&Ilged, prob6bly for the worse. (By Tom Wicker) Moreover, the matter no longer is a sub well produce either runoff primaries, which ject for Idle &peCulation. President Johnson WABWNGTON.-Woodrow Wllson chose an would drag out the length and cost of the has long since been forced to curtail drastic apt moment, his first message to Congress process, or minority nominees. In a runoff, ally hls own public appea.r&nces. Not only 1B tn 1913, to propose the national nomlnwtlng factional combinations could and often he hesvlly guru-Ued when be leaves the White primary as a substitute for the national would defeat the original · front-runner. A House. His travel plans are not disclosed until party oonventlon. After aJJ, just· the year minority nominee, even though be ran ahead the last p Mike Mansfield Papers, Series 21, Box 44, Folder 40, Mansfield Library, University of Montana June 17, 1968 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- SENATE 87291 Senator from Montana to be a cosponsor changes In the poliUcal machinery, guished Senator from Montana, the of the two proposed constitutional which requires modernization just as majority leader, for includmg me as a amendments. I th1nk the Senator from much as our Industrial plants and our cosponsor of his excellent constitutional Montana baa made it plain in his re agriculture have to keep up with the amendment. marb that they may not be phrased in changes brought about by time and This will add a new dimension to exactly the words to accompll.sh the knowledge. democracy, as I see it. purpose which is intended. I thank the Senator from Montana for I introduced a similar national Presi I am quite sure that, as written, they inviting me to be a cosponsor of the two dential primary amendment 4 years ago, may not be a cure-all tor the present proposed amendments to the Constitu and I feel very strongly that the most unsavory political situation which exists tion. Important vote an American citizen casts in this country. But I do believe that we I do not know of anything In the in is for the Presidency. Now, the American have to take cognizance of the situation terest of democracy that Is more im citizen only has a choice between the two as it is now and undertake to do some portant than that we give these mat men who happen to be nominated by the thing about it. Something is wrong with ters the fullest possible study and con Democratic and Republican Parties. He the working of our electoral system as It sideration. does not have a real choice. now exists. Something is wrong wi~h our Mr. MANSFIELD. Mr. President, I ex The Mapsfl.eld amendment would give convention system. tend my deepest and most heartfelt him that choice. I believe it would tre I have attended a few party conven thanks to my distinguished colleague the mendously improve not only the citizens' tions in my lifetime and have kept in senior Senator from Vermont. As I have participation and interest but also would touch with others by telephone. I am said many times, anything that Interests Improve the excellence of our presidents, sure that the people do not have an ade him or anything to v hich he adds his the omce which we all know is the most quate voice 1n the convention system as name brings with It dignity, prestige, un Important and significant in our democ It is carried on today. derstanding, and knowledge. racy. Something Is definitely wrong with our This effort is an n.ttempt to at least Also. I am delighted to take part in electoral system under which electors make a start in the direction of bringing supporting the majority leader In the from each State elect the President. I do about a revival of a political system portion of the resolution which would not think that they betray the con1'1- which in many respects has become dor end the electoral college. This is a dan dence which l.s entrusted 1n them. I think mant and In some respects irrelevant gerous appendix which should have been some of them think that being a presi with the passage of time. taken out of the body politic long ago. dential elector l.s a great honor which The distinguished Senator from Ver The vote at 18, I believe, also is long will stay with them for the rest of their mont Indicated that It is the delegates, overdue. lives. I oan understand why they feel so, not the people, who, unfortunately, are Mr. BYRD of West Virginia. Mr. Presi but nevertheless the convention system the ones who select a presidential candi dent, I ask unanimous consent that my and the election system do need reno date, and many times the people are not name may be added as a cosponsor of the vating. left with much In the way or a choice. joint resolution Mike Mansfield Papers, Series 21, Box 44, Folder 40, Mansfield Library, University of Montana