tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post2978306479249174386..comments2024-03-27T11:18:34.222-03:00Comments on Viable Opposition: Presidential Elections in America - Brought to You by the "One Percent"A Political Junkiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03342345936277964422noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-59833392206247802692012-02-05T16:37:58.509-04:002012-02-05T16:37:58.509-04:00Many voters only consider the candidates placed ri...Many voters only consider the candidates placed right in front of them by the mainstream corporate-owned media, even though most of those candidates got the money to make themselves visible by taking legal bribes (campaign contributions) from organizations that seek some special benefit. And then they complain about how the politicians they elect answer to the interests whose money made those candidates visible. Candidates like Ron Paul, who attract enough individual donors to not need special interest groups' money, are the exception.<br /><br />Does anybody believe that the best products are those advertised in the mass media? That's not necessarily true for consumer goods. Why should it be true for politicians?<br /><br />We should take the time to search for alternative candidates.<br /><br />We don't have to wait for anyone to fix the campaign finance system. We can consider candidates without special interests backing them. And we can refuse to vote for any candidate who accepts that kind of backing. That takes the power from the source of the money, bypassing the need for reform (and the lobbyists who would stop that reform because their jobs would be threatened).<br /><br />But if no influence-free candidate wins at the conventions of either major party, my voting strategy requires choosing neither Democrats nor Republicans. Other parties' candidates still appear on ballots. It does not matter which candidate, because that candidate will not win the election this time around. It's OK to vote for a goofball or weirdo. I would rather vote for a random minor party candidate I don't believe in than give consent to my abuse by voting for a bought candidate.<br /><br />If more people start voting for those minor party weirdos you see on ballots, it becomes more likely that sensible independent candidates will emerge in various elections; actually, I've read plenty of discussion in the news about that happening this year, because voters are so dissatisfied with the usual class of candidates. We can vote for those people. As a nice bonus, this will pressure the two main political parties to adapt to voter preferences more than big campaign donors would like.<br /><br />That third party strategy has a risk of splitting the liberal vote between two candidates (as happened with Ralph Nader) or the conservative vote between two candidates (as happened with Ross Perot). The best outsider candidate would be a non-weird centrist who can steal votes equally from both parties; if that centrist belonged to a party, the party would have to refuse all special interest money.<br /><br />Lack of change results from almost everyone voting for either Democrat or Republican mainstream candidates. Why do we just jump back and forth, voting one or the other into office? By now it's clear that that won't change anything.<br /><br />Why should we forget about the past harm they've done? That harm was not accidental; it was the result of both responding to lobbying and acting based on party ideology. We should assume that politicians of both parties will repeat some of their past harmful actions.Eriknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6399730406480392183.post-75590290354475651562012-01-03T13:28:32.947-04:002012-01-03T13:28:32.947-04:00PJ,
I would have like to have posted your good c...PJ,<br /> <br />I would have like to have posted your good column above to my Facebok page, but you don't have the clicker here (and the computer I'm using, here at my club) does not have "Post To as an option.<br /> <br />Couldja?<br /> <br />Best wishes,<br /><br /> -dlj.DavidLJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04477517602668340521noreply@blogger.com