Give Me A Reason To Vote For You
June 19, 2007
I was reading a story today about how Democratic Presidential candidates are hurting their chances in the general election because of their pandering to the left in the nomination process. The only thing I could think was “DUH! You can’t get nominated by the far left by saying things that appeal to moderates and right-wingers.” The problem is that you can’t get a moderate candidate nominated by either party because both are beholden to extremists. Why can’t we have an election like other countries where we can vote for whoever and if no one gets more than 50% of the vote we have a two candidate run-off between the top two vote getters?
The election is still almost a year and a half away and I’m already sick of it. I’m not sick of it because I’m burned out and tired of hearing the debates. I’m sick of it because 90% of what you hear is why you shouldn’t vote for so-and-so. I don’t want to not vote for someone. Stop giving me reasons to NOT vote for someone. Give me reasons to vote FOR someone. I’m sick of the least common denominator.
June 19, 2007 at 7:30 pm
a-FUCKING-men!
June 19, 2007 at 7:41 pm
[...] Recesses of Mark’s Mind.” Today, he’s got a great post up about how he’s sick of negativity in politics. I’m with you there, [...]
June 19, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Unfortunately, “not voting for someone” has been the way Americans decide presidential elections more often than “voting for someone”.
June 20, 2007 at 6:17 am
I agree. With only half (or even less) of eligible voters actually voting in elections not voting seems to be the way we end up with such a mess in Washington.
June 20, 2007 at 8:50 am
Ever heard of Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem? It proves that all non-trivial voting systems involving more than two candidates are fundamentally flawed.
You can also make an argument from free speech: As long as we only elect people from two parties, we’re less inclined to suppress the speech of crazy outsiders (e.g., LaRouche supporters), since there’s no risk of them actually getting elected. This is contrast to countries like, say, France, where they inhibit free speech out of necessity, because these crackpot minor parties actually end up winning seats in the legislature and wielding disproportionate influence.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too…