So Senate Republicans today were able to kill an effort to amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United. Never mind that the vote was 54-42. Because in America's oddball version of "democracy," the side with the fewest votes can still win.
I can't say I'm surprised by this. Even if by a miracle, the so-called "Udall amendment" got through the Senate without the undemocratic filibuster, it would still have to make it through the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. It's likely that wasn't going to happen either. And even if by some other miracle, it got through the House, the amendment would still have to be ratified by 3/4 of the States. That's roughly 38 state Legislatures. That's daunting, considering that more than half of all the states are currently controlled by the GOP.
Granted, there are many Republican voters who support overturning Citizens United, and at least one red state - Montana - is already in the pro-democracy column. And, given the existence of pro-corporate Democratic legislators, there's no guarantee the legislature in a blue state will have the votes to ratify the amendment.
The United States Constitution is the most difficult to amend in the world and the cumbersome Article V is the culprit. There are many people who believe that difficulty to be a virtue. I am certainly not one of them. The amendment process may have made sense when there were 13 states, but it's a nightmare with 50. The process is just one of the anachronisms inside the ossified relic that underlies the foundation of America. Who knows if the midterm elections are going to change the odds of successfully passing an amendment. Right now, I'm not optimistic. So perhaps the Senate Republicans were only hastening the inevitable.