The article “The continuing fall of federalism” appeared on the 22nd of February in the opinion section of The State’s website. The State is South Carolina’s largest daily newspaper. The article also appeared in the Washington Post, a conservative leaning newspaper. The author is George Will, a conservative twice weekly columnist for the Washington Post and contributing editor for Newsweek. He is also a contributing analyst for ABC News. His columns cover foreign and domestic politics and policies. Will is the author of several books. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Princeton University and received the Pulitzer Prize for his commentary in 1977.
The article is directed at politically minded Americans who are interested in preserving the Constitution. The author seems to target a conservative leaning audience. The purpose of the article is to alert the readers about Senator Feingold’s attempt of “vandalizing” the Constitution by amending the 17th amendment. Will’s main point is that Senators Feingold and McCain, in response to the Blagojevich-Burris debacle in Illinois, want to amend the 17th Amendment. Feingold, a Democrat, and McCain, a Republican, want to change the Amendment so that future replacement senators will have to be elected, rather than be appointed by the governor of the state. Will argues that the Amendment should not be amended, but rather be repealed. Before 1913 senators were chosen by the state legislature. During the Progressive Era the 17th Amendment was added to the Constitution, which dictated that senators be elected by the citizens of a state. Only in the case of a replacement during a term is a senator to be chosen by the state legislature. Will believes that this is wrong and that senators should always be chosen by the state legislature just as the framers of the Constitution intended.
