Despite the fact that I consider myself only “slightly left of [the real] center,” I don’t vote like a lot of “centrists” and “moderates.” In fact, the last Republican I voted for was a Justice of the Peace in Fort Worth back around 1994.
That’s right. I vote a straight ticket.
It isn’t that I agree with the Democratic party all the time. In fact, there have been times I have had to hold my nose to vote. However, the time to choose the right candidate isn’t just on Election Day: it’s at the primaries; it’s at the caucuses; it’s at the local political events that happen weeks and months and sometimes over a year before the election itself.
My views in this regards are informed by the writings of the late Robert Heinlein, author of such books as Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers. He also wrote a book on political activism called Take Back Your Government. Mr. Heinlein recommended that if you really want to change your country, you must change the political parties. And the way to do that is from the inside!
There are two sides to many issues, and conveniently enough two political parties. Just pick the one closest to your views and join up. I don’t care which party you join; in fact the Republicans could sure use some new ideas right about now. Start going to your local events. Learn who the local players are. Do some volunteer work and meet some people. Get a feel for who might be running not just next year, but for some years in the future. From here, you can influence the future! You can quietly argue for the points where you don’t necessarily agree with the party, and maybe change the way the party sees things.
While I think there is some merit to crossing party lines to vote for an incumbent who honestly has been doing right by his/her constituents, I hold no truck with those who “vote the man, not the party.” For a man [or woman] to get to the point where they are running for a political office higher than Dog Catcher, he [or she] must have demonstrated some willingness to adhere to the party line. All Maverickyness aside, the candidate did not get to be the candidate by being independent. This, by the way, explains why Joe Lieberman finally lost the Democratic nomination for his Senate seat; he wasn’t much of a Democrat anymore.
Yes, I am a member of the party. I gave money. I volunteered. I wrote letters to my Congresscritters. I wrote essays here and elsewhere. If you want change, you have to work for change. You won’t get it by doing nothing more than showing up at your polling place today.
In closing, special election day edition: Fetal rights are bad news even if you are [so-called] Pro-Life; how Election Day came to be today; mmCoffee; mmIceCream. Get off the computer and vote. And then get busy!