Memo to 2016 candidates: Stop saying you'll amend the Constitution. You won't.
Looking at you, Scott Walker
It's been 23 years since we last amended the Constitution, and that was for a relatively unglamourous and uncontroversial idea: When Congress votes itself a pay raise, it won't take effect until the next Congress is seated. Despite the fact that few people ever voiced much objection, this amendment took 203 years to be ratified (really, no joke). Yet we still often act as though amending the Constitution would be possible on issues that are deeply contentious.
Or at least that's what presidential candidates tell us. Faced with the possibility of an upcoming Supreme Court decision declaring that same-sex couples have the same right to marry as anyone else — a decision that could come in a matter of weeks — some Republicans are falling back on the idea of amending the Constitution. Not to ban same-sex marriage nationally, but to allow individual states to ban it if they choose. Sunday on ABC's This Week, Scott Walker came out in support of such an amendment: "I personally believe that marriage is between one man and one woman," he said. "If the court decides that, the only next approach is for those who are supporters of marriage being defined as between one man and one woman is ultimately to consider pursuing a constitutional amendment."
It's a long way from what Republicans sounded like a decade or so ago, when they were aggressively advocating the Constitution be amended to ban any gay Americans from marrying altogether, but that shows how far the GOP has traveled in such a short time. The party's leaders are still lagging behind the public, both as a whole and in much of their own party; this recent CNN poll found that 63 percent of Americans think the Constitution does give same-sex couples the right to marry, and a majority of Republicans and Republican leaners under the age of 50 agreed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Walker would probably argue that his position is a modest one, just allowing states to do what they wish (though marriage equality advocates argue that we don't put fundamental rights to a vote). And he's not the first Republican presidential candidate to say so. Ted Cruz has created his own constitutional amendment to that effect, and other candidates might come along. A couple, though, including Carly Fiorina, have rejected a constitutional amendment to reverse such a decision. It shows the tension underlying this issue for Republicans: On one hand, they are being constantly pulled left by changes in public opinion, but on the other hand, they want to signal to socially conservative voters that they're of the same mind.
But advocating a constitutional amendment on this or any other issue is really just a cop-out. It doesn't commit the candidate to doing anything, and it proposes an initiative that will almost inevitably fail. If Scott Walker wants to amend the Constitution, what are we supposed to believe he'll do about it? Not that much, or anything at all. Though it's nice to know where he stands, the president has no role at all in the amendment process.
The same goes for Democrats. Hillary Clinton suggested in April that she might support a constitutional amendment on campaign finance. But she didn't say exactly what such an amendment might do, or how it would succeed given widespread opposition from Republicans. I can say with near-complete certainty that there will not be an amendment to limit big money in politics, so long as there's a Republican Party. You're never going to get three-quarters of the state legislatures to agree to fix something (the influence of big money in politics) that most Republicans don't think is actually a problem at all.
The Founders made amending the Constitution difficult so that it wouldn't be something we could accomplish quickly and rashly according to the whims of the moment. In a divided country, we won't be ratifying any new amendments on anything even remotely controversial. So maybe instead of asking presidential candidates whether they'd amend the Constitution on some issue they care about, we should ask them what they would actually like to do — within the powers of the office they're seeking, and within the political realities they'll face. Then we'd have a better idea of what their presidency might bring.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Stick guitar
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'Sports executives ushered a fox into the henhouse'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published