A System Failing
Its People
The founders built a brilliant system for their era — 3.9 million people, no technology, no political parties. We are not them. Our problems demand new answers.
Permanent Campaign Mode
Two-year House terms mean members spend half their tenure raising money. Governing comes second. Legislating is an afterthought.
The Senate's Broken Math
Wyoming's 580,000 residents hold identical Senate power to California's 39 million. One vote is not equal to another.
Gerrymandered Gridlock
Politicians draw their own districts to guarantee re-election, producing extremists who cannot — and will not — compromise.
Donor Capture
Members spend 30–40% of their time calling wealthy donors. They represent the people who fund them, not the people who elect them.
Party-Recruited Candidates
Both parties recruit candidates through closed systems — donor networks, party committees, political operatives. Working people need not apply.
The Two-Party Trap
Winner-take-all elections mathematically guarantee two parties. Tens of millions of Americans have no real representation.
What a Modern
Congress Looks Like
A redesigned Congress would be distributed, proportional, and accountable to voters — not donors or party bosses. Other functioning democracies have solved many of these problems. We can go further.
Proportional Representation
Seats earned by vote share. Every voter has a voice. Coalition government replaces zero-sum tribalism.
Distributed Legislature
Representatives govern from their districts. Technology enables deliberation. Washington becomes a convening center, not a power center.
Four-Year House Terms
Longer terms create space for actual legislating. Less fundraising. More governing.
Citizens' Deliberative Assemblies
Randomly selected Americans review major legislation before final votes — like jury duty for policy.
Zero PAC. Zero Lobbyist Money.
Candidates who sign the pledge get verified. Voters know exactly who they're backing before a single dollar changes hands.
Grassroots Nominations
Anyone can nominate a neighbor, a teacher, a veteran. People — not party bosses — decide who runs.
They Want Us
Fighting Each Other.
Gun control. Abortion. Gender identity. These issues are real. Your feelings about them are real. But Congress has spent 30 years making sure we scream at each other about them — because while we're fighting, they're stealing.
Project Clean Slate is not here to tell you what to believe. We are here to say: we cannot fix any of those issues until we fix the machine that's broken. Clean the system first. Then fight about everything else.
Read the Common Ground Argument →Abortion rights. Gun legislation. Immigration. Trans policy. School curriculum. Every election becomes a culture war referendum.
We all want a government that isn't for sale. We all want representatives who answer to us, not donors. We all know the system is rigged. Start there.
Ten years. One mission. Get corruption out of Congress. Build the movement across party lines. By 2034, we have enough reform candidates in office to change the rules.
The Slate Won't
Clean Itself.
Every major reform in American history started with ordinary people who decided the status quo was unacceptable. Nominate someone who will fight for working people — not party bosses or PAC money.