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See other Activism ArticlesTitle: On Voting Third Party
Source: Laptop America
URL Source: http://www.laptopamerica.net/Columnist/Bozeman/db10.25.06.html
Published: Oct 25, 2006
Author: David Bozeman
Post Date: 2006-10-25 10:39:19 by Bryan M
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Views: 654
Comments: 4
If anyone in the laptop community is considering voting for a third party this November, allow me to share a view from my perspective. In a nutshell, if you are banking America's future on a third party, you may as well do one of the following: 1) save your time and gas and stay home or, 2) help streamline the election night analysis and vote Democratic.
I began my adult political life with the most successful of the third parties, but my experiences as a Libertarian apply to any, including the Constitution Party or that institution for which the pro-life Pat Buchanan left the pro-life GOP, the Reform Party (boy, haven't they taken the country by storm?).
I was a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party for twelve years. I wrote columns, contributed money, ran for the State House and served as vice-chair and chairman of the state party. I learned a lot about politics and human nature and met some fine patriotic Americans, and, though actively campaigning for liberty is never a thing to regret, I can safely say that, in practical terms, my efforts were for naught.
For reasons too complex to tackle here, the political structure of the US is not amenable to third parties, and, despite claims every election cycle by the Libertarians that the American people are fed up with politics as usual and this is going to be their year, only a major realignment of our political system will give any third party a chance. In fact, as I write this, I am trying to recall if the LP's presidential ticket ever received 1% of the vote. Maybe 1980. . . In any event, the LP, whether it is fair or not, has not managed to make even a dent nationally in its thirty-five year history. "But I'm making a statement !" Fine, but nobody's listening. You may as well try explaining the Constitution to a brick wall. "I'm going to teach the major parties a lesson, particularly the Republicans who masquerade as advocates of smaller government." There, you could, conceivably, make a difference. Imagine a scenario like Florida 2000 where the presidency is literally decided by a handful of votes. If enough small-government voters went third-party, they could throw the election to a Democrat.
Therein lies my biggest disagreement with third parties - try as I may, for my own ideological purity, I cannot convince myself that it makes no difference whether Democrats of Republicans lead our nation, particularly in these perilous times. My frustrations with the GOP are legion. Far too often it is true that, at best, the differences between the two parties are measurable only by degrees. However, to use a navigation analogy, a difference of just a few degrees can alter a course dramatically. I know Republicans have raised taxes and even given us liberal judges, but no Democrat would have given us Scalia, Thomas or Alito. And I don't even want to think about Democrats leading the War on Terror. I refer readers to my laptop article A CONSERVATIVE CASE FOR A REPUBLICAN MAJORITY.
Furthermore, imagine if, for instance, the Libertarians somehow won enough seats for major-party status in the legislative process and had to set an agenda, sit down with Democrats and either satisfy or neutralize an entitlement-hungry electorate. I can hear the Libertarian base now: "What, no vote this year on privatizing Yellowstone? Sellouts!" "What, you're only cutting my tax rate by 17% and not 70? I want all or nothing! I told you there wasn't a dime's worth of difference in the three major parties!"
I truly commend those warriors who stick to principle and I hope that someday their labors will bear the fruits of a freer, stronger society. Till then, what I seek in a candidate is someone who, as Rush Limbaugh says, will advance the things I believe in and not merely reflect them.
In defense of the major parties, they try to give the public what it wants. While both parties perpetuate an entitlement culture, the key word is 'culture.' Political parties alone did not create it and will not alone change it. Though I believe America is predominantly conservative, there is no overwhelming movement demanding the immediate elimination of government agencies and massive tax cuts. I think if the minor parties took the money they used on campaigns (and endless petition drives just to maintain ballot status) and really tried to educate people (for instance, on basic economics where public schools fail miserably), they would stand a better chance of changing hearts and minds.
Political parties exist to elect a slate of candidates and to advance a limited set of ideas and proposals. Candidates can (and should) teach philosophy to a certain extent, but an electorate nursed on thirty-second blurbs and news recaps is hardly chomping at the bit for a discourse on the Austrian school of economics. Americans are a freedom-loving people, amenable to change, but the political cycle is usually a reflection of greater social change and not the cause.
I am grateful to members of the Libertarian Party because, through them, I learned about capitalism. High school never exposed me to free-market economists like Milton Friedman, but the Libertarian Party did. Public school never taught me to trust and study the Constitution. The Libertarian Party did. Their political writers and mentors did more to make me an advocate of liberty than either of Harry Browne's runs for the presidency. The question to me is not whether Republicans deserve to lose this November, but does America? Does our military? I am sticking with our best hope for both. I am sticking with the Republican Party.
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Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest#1. To: Bryan M (#0)
Sad to say, I have to totally agree with the logic in the article. Liberals don't try to ban guns outright, they start with 'classes' of guns like machine guns, then "assault rifles" then whatever new class they want to create. This gets people used to compromise and losing a little more of their freedom. Voting for a candidate you know has no chance is wasting your vote. The third party vote gave us President Clinton, not Ross Perot back in '92. What we need to do is push for better candidates in elections during primaries, and if they fail to please voting against them the next primary. To hand our country over to the Dems at this time is worse then "cutting off our noses to spite our faces", it is an incredible setback. A setback we may never recover from. I thank God that the people wised up and elected President Reagan back in 1980. Do we want to return to the days of Carter--oh that famous "misery index", our gutted military etc. I could not vote for Reagan in either election, but I definitely supported him in my heart. If, by voting third party, or sitting this election out, the Dems win, we have failed. We have failed our children, our military, our war dead, and all the victims of terrorism past and future.
#2. To: Bryan M (#0)As thoroughly disillusioned and disgusted as I am with our present leadership, I must agree that the author is so right. As much as I sincerely wish we could get the Constitution Party in power, the likelihood of that ever happening are next to nil. It seems that ever so slowly, the two parties are starting to converge on the most controversial issues of our time and it won't be long before the lines between the two will become so blurred as to make no difference at all as whom to vote for. Where are the people who say what they mean, mean what they say, and back it up with action? The Republican Party claims to be pro-life, yet I see not one person on that side of the political fence lifting so much as a pinky finger to stop rampant abortion on demand. Our President claims to be tough on the war on terror and protecting U.S. citizens, but pefers to leave our borders wide open and to grant amnesty to millions if illegal aliens, regardless of where they come from. Now we've got gay pedophiles within our administration, sending explicit emails to young pages, and the Log Cabin Republicans backing perverts like that (why do they even exist if they don't already know they have representation there?). Where are the people who are truly on our side, and willing to keep the promises they make? Where are the TRUE conservatives who will finally get the job done?
#3. To: Bryan M (#0)I have to agree with David Bozeman's article. Although I'm a Jeffersonian Constitutionalist as opposed to being a Libertarian, much of the same philosophy applies. It is much easier to try to influence a majority group that is faintly similar in ideology (the Moderate Republicans), as opposed to attempting to influence a group that is completely opposed to our ideology (the Progressive Democrats). If the Progressives take control, due to voter apathy or miscalculation, all Conservatives lose and the Constitution/Bill of Rights is endangered. I'm not willing to take the chance. My goal is to keep the Republicans in control (for now) and do my best to influence their ideology to closer resemble Conservative values.
#4. To: Bryan M (#0)
Therein lies my biggest disagreement with third parties - try as I may, for my own ideological purity, I cannot convince myself that it makes no difference whether Democrats of Republicans lead our nation, particularly in these perilous times.And therein lies the reason why the slippery slope of corruption and incompetence just gets steeper.
As long as one continues to vote for the lesser evil, one continues to vote for evil, period. That is incontrovertable.
And evil, when encouraged and empowered and unchecked, continues its natural course, further descending that slippery slope and further limiting future prospects of improvement.
When you're in a hole, stop digging.
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