1. More Choices for Voters

Last week’s Ezine noted voters who continue to vote for a political party despite the dismal performance of that party are like someone who stays in an abusive marriage hoping the abusing spouse will change their behavior.

Except maybe those in abusive marriages actually have more choices than voters. Abused spouses can seek refuge and assistance through marriage counseling or actually physically leaving the marriage. Abused spouses can divorce their current spouse and then choose to be single or seek a new relationship.

Abused voters, unfortunately, have fewer options. On paper and in theory, third parties exist as an option. The reality is the system we have evolved to means only two parties have a reasonable expectation of winning a Presidential election. The possibility of the Republicans or Democrats going out of favor with the American people and dissolving like the Whigs of the 1800’s are terrifically small.

Independent voters choose a Presidential candidate the same way many consumers buy a car—they look for the best value for their needs, regardless of brand.

For other voters, brand matters. This fact makes their choice even more complicated. I was co-hosting on a radio show yesterday and began to notice how many times callers would preface a comment by saying, “Well, I’m a Republican, but . . .” Why would someone make a clarifying comment like that unless they were trying to avoid being associated with something they felt was undesirable? (By the way, for those who use that phrase, ask yourself this question. Why do you say this? If you are a Republican, don’t you have access to the inner sanctum of the Party? Don’t you go to Party meetings and express your opinion to get policies changed? And if you don’t have access and the Party refuses to make the changes you advocate, then why do you continue to affiliate and say, “I’m a Republican, but . . .”?)

In short, there are those voters will vote for a certain party, no matter that party’s affiliations, policies and performance. The determiners of victory, then, are those voters who call themselves Independent or Unaffiliated. The difficulty with our current system is neither of the two major parties has any motivation to change to accommodate Independent voters. The two major Parties know they are, in reality, the only game in town and they behave accordingly.

Those of you Independent voters who voted Democratic this time should consider this scenario. What if Democrats don’t deliver the change you thought you were promised? What’s your alternative in the next election? Should you vote for Republicans?

Republicans were basically unrepentant with what they offered in this last election. If you vote for them in the next election, will they be repentant then and offer new policies? Or will Republicans offer you the same policies they offered you the last eight years? Chances are Republicans will offer the same policies and say to you privately that you never should have left in 2008.

Of course, one possibility is the Obama Administration will govern from the political center and reject the positions of both the extreme left and the extreme right. Should this happen, then moderate Independents should have little difficulty choosing who to vote for in 2012.

The question remains, however, as to whether such a change would be a true long term change of the Democratic Party or merely the implementation of the philosophy of an individual elected official. If the latter is responsible for the change, then the conflict has not been resolved, but rather covered over.

As Independent voters, only one long term solution exists. Democrats and Republicans must be presented with the real threat of a majority of voters voting for some other party than their own. That threat will never be real so long as our current electoral system exists.

The electoral system we’re using is not the only system available domestically or internationally. Other systems exist and can be implemented without amending our constitution. In fact, a new system was recently approved in Memphis, Tennessee for use in their local city elections providing just the kind of threat Independents need.

That new system is the topic for next week’s column. If efforts are made now, this new system could be in place for 2010 and beyond.

2.  More Amazing Voting Behavior

I had a discussion last week with someone from a losing Democratic campaign for Congress whose state went to Obama.

In looking at the voting results, they discovered many voters had come to the polls and voted for Obama, but no one else. They simply left the rest of the ballot blank. Apparently filling out the rest of the ballot was too difficult.

Of course, had all those who voted for Obama also voted for the other Democratic candidate, the Democratic candidate would have won.

Think of the implications if this is true. (Based on this remark, I have asked the election commissioners in my district to provide data to see if the phenomenon exists here.) How amazing to think we have voters who fail to recognize the significance of voting for their representatives of choice for both the Legislative and Executive branches of our Federal Government. Then, again, given ample evidence of ignorance, why am I surprised? The question is, what do we do about it? Suggestions welcome.