Mark Small

To be clear: Buck is a state Senator, but his bill would change the ways in which the two major political parties nominate candidates for United States Senate. In a GOP meeting I attended Saturday, people, at first, were perplexed by this move by Indiana Democrats. 2/20

After someone pointed out the sponsor of SB 75 was a Republican, the mood shifted. One person said today, about the change SB 75 seeks: it’s only the primaries; people still vote for their Senator in the general election. 3/20

Another person sd this how the founders of the country wanted to choose U.S. Senators: “The Senate of the United States shall be comprised of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof...” Art. I, §3. 4/20

Yet Framers of Constitution also provided mechanism of amendment. Art. V. One amendment, XVII, was introduced by Kansas Republican - yes, as in GOP - Sen Joseph Bristow. Kyvig, “Explicit and Authentic acts amending the Constitution,” p. 210. 5/20

The Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution removed selection of U.S. Senators from States’ legislatures: “The Senate of the United States shall be comprised of two Senators from each state, elected by the people thereof...” 6/20

This country, as the Declaration of Independence makes clear, was founded on the premise that government exists by consent of the governed: “to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” 7/20

In 1787 the Constitution began with “We the People,” instead “Men.” To some the difference was cosmetic. Only white, male landowners were eligible to vote for delegates to the Constitutional Convention. 8/20

The 55 delegates chosen and who attended the Convention, at one time or another, likewise were white, male landowners. Women could not vote or engage in most legal transactions. The people indigenous to this continent had no rights. 9/20