How to Vote in Primaries and Not Be an Idiot
Gandalf Grey
By David Swanson
Created Dec 10 2007 - 8:24am
1. Virtually nobody votes in primaries (or caucuses) compared to general
elections. Therefore, each individual primary vote is worth many times what
it is in the general election. And, it's more likely to be counted, since
there's typically less fraud and abuse of the system in primaries. So, if
you vote in general elections, you pretty much have to vote in primaries in
order to not be an idiot. Bring a few friends to vote too, and you're
practically a genius.
2. If you have to join a party that you don't support in order to vote in a
primary, you can always unjoin again immediately after the primary. In the
meantime, maybe you'll have helped to create a party you can support. You
can even vote in a primary without planning to vote in the general election.
If the 50% of Americans who don't vote at all (or even a small fraction of
them) voted in primaries, they would determine the candidates in the general
elections, in which they might then choose to vote as well.
3. If there's no candidate you like in a primary, you can write one in. A
relatively very small amount of organizing can even lead to a victory for
that candidate. (Or some signature gathering could place your candidate's
name on the ballot.)
4. If there is a good candidate on the ballot, then an extremely small
amount of organizing can lead to a victory for that candidate. And something
short of a victory can still mean some number of delegates for your
candidate going to the party's convention from your state, or momentum for
your candidate in future states. Primaries, unlike general elections, are
not winner-take-all. (You can even become a delegate for your candidate and
get a trip to a convention out of this.)
5. In most presidential elections, the party's nominee is decided before
many states hold their primaries. So, for most people, the point of voting
is not to choose the nominee. (And therefore almost nobody votes, opening
the door to effective action by non-idiots.) The point is also not to "show
support and loyalty" for a nominee already chosen (democracies have no need
for such displays, which are best suited to another type of regime). Rather,
the point is to elect as many delegates as possible for the candidate whose
positions you most favor, so that those delegates can influence the party's
platform and the nominee's positions at the convention, or even make your
candidate the vice presidential nominee.
6. In early states, surprise underdog candidates can build momentum, and
voting for such a candidate does not entail spoiling the primary for a
mediocre candidate who you believe has a better chance of defeating the
worst candidate. This is because it takes several states over a period of
days or weeks for one candidate to lock down a victory. A surprising showing
for an underdog candidate with dramatically distinct positions can put that
candidate into the running in the minds of future voters, and can very
quickly move the mediocre candidates to become better than mediocre, and
therefore better able to compete in future states.
7. Swing voters almost do not exist. Fewer than 4% of voters in 2004 ever
planned to vote for Kerry and switched to Bush or vice versa. So, appealing
to one's own base and turning those people out to vote is key to winning the
general election. Therefore, Democrats who want to win the general election,
for example, should nominate the most Democratic, not the most Republican,
candidate in the primaries. (Republicans already know this.)
8. Pre-primary corporate polls that purport to tell us who is most "viable"
and "electable" are primarily a product of corporate media coverage and
spin, much of which is "coverage" of the previous polls. The way to
determine which candidate is most viable begins by canceling your newspaper
subscriptions and recycling your television.
9. In a democracy, the most electable candidate is the candidate whom the
most people actually like. The most reliable gauge available to any of us of
whom people will like is whom we ourselves personally and honestly most
like. Therefore, there can be no distinction between whom you like and whom
you consider "viable." The candidate you most like, honestly, in your own
considered private opinion, is the most viable candidate. And you can make
that even more so if you lead by example. Don't just vote, but campaign,
promote, and contribute, as much and as early as you can. "To believe your
own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is
true for all men [and women], -- that is genius." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
10. The following are majority positions among Americans, and overwhelmingly
majority positions among Democrats: end the occupation of Iraq, impeach the
vice president, create single-payer not-for-profit universal health
coverage, withdraw from corporate trade agreements like NAFTA, and slash the
Pentagon budget in order to invest in diplomacy, foreign aid, education,
jobs, and green energy. Only one candidate supports this platform. He came
in third in MoveOn.org's poll, and then second in Democrats.com's, then
first in Democracy for America's, and most recently first in Progressive
Democrats of America's poll. These are polls done outside the corporate
media, polls of progressive activists. His campaign is where the energy is,
but it is energy that must resist the influence of the corporate media. Our
country and our planet are in peril, and we have no viable alternative.
Nobody else comes close. His name is Dennis Kucinich.
_______
http://www.davidswanson.org [1]
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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
*us*
Vandar
> How to Vote in Primaries and Not Be an Idiot
Given that in order to vote in a primary you must subscribe to partisan
politics, it is impossible to vote in the primaries and not be an idiot.
Phlip
/Au contraire./ You could vote in the other idiots' primary.
Rich Keebler, Child Molester
"Vandar" <vand...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:xwD7j.262$7d1...@news01.roc.ny...
It's impossible for you to breathe and not be an idiot, Vandar.
Vandar
Let me guess: Democrat?
*us*
I'm a Republican and I note that you're an idiot, Vandal.
Dennis Kucinich / Ron Paul '08
Steven L.
> Gandalf Grey wrote:
>
>> How to Vote in Primaries and Not Be an Idiot
>
> Given that in order to vote in a primary you must subscribe to partisan
> politics,
No, you don't.
As this fellow correctly pointed out: You can register as a member of a
party even you don't agree with their politics--even if you don't agree
with any partisan politics--just to have the opportunity to vote in your
state's primary. Nothing forces you to maintain your membership in that
party after that, or to vote for any of their candidates in the general
election. It's a mere formality.
It amazes me how many folks will gripe about the poor choice of
candidates in the general campaign--they will say they don't like either
the Dem or Repub candidate--when they never bothered to vote in the
primaries which helped determine the candidates the parties would offer.
--
Steven L.
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.