Top Line
Former Sen. Bill Bradley's ambitions are still as lofty as he is tall. He is now retired from the Senate, where the Democrat represented the state of New Jersey for 18 years. But the 6'5" NBA Hall of Fame player and one-time candidate for the White House isn't done trying to fix Washington. He says Washington's biggest problems are structural ones, ideas he lays out in his new book, 'We can All Do Better.'
Bradley spoke with Top Line and immediately ticked off what he says are two of the biggest problems: Gerrymandering (drawing congressional lines to benefit a particular person or party) and the enormous amount of money in politics.
"You deal with gerrymandering by doing what California's done with a commission," said Bradley. And you deal with money and politics with "a Constitutional amendment that says the federal, state and local government can limit the amount of money spent in the political campaign."
Bradley praises the efforts of Americans Elect in his book. Though he laughed off the thought of being the group's candidate and accurately predicted they would likely not get field a candidate this year, the former senator said Americans Elect is on the right track.
"The people behind it are people that really want to try to have innovation in democracy. And indeed that's what we need, we need innovation," said Bradley.
"It'll be a little bit like 'Field of Dreams,' you know. If you build it will they come? Maybe they'll come, maybe they won't come." he continued.
"I think that it's indicative of the power of the two parties, discouraging and also indicative that not many people even know about Americans Elect. But the interesting thing would be how would that play in 2014."