Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders have both made the undoing of Citizens United central elements of their presidential campaigns. Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig is running for president on little else. And it makes sense, really: the issue animates liberals and the Democratic base like few others, and even garners real support among Republicans and Independents. For those who believe the Constitution was made to do more than enforce laissez faire economics, campaign finance reform is a rare topic that’s a no-brainer both politically and on the merits.
But if you talk to folks in the weeds on campaign finance reform — or experts on campaign finance law or campaign finance, period — one thing becomes abundantly clear. Regardless of how often the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee may rail against Citizens United in 2016, the chance of reform coming out of Congress any time soon is essentially zilch. On the contrary, if the campaign finance reform movement ultimately succeeds, when the histories are written, they’ll start in the states.