Kaye Grogan
Write-in ballots . . . could end two-party dominance
By Kaye Grogan
There is a way to beat the two-party political system. If all conservatives would rise up, and write-in Judge Roy Moore or James Dobson for president in 2008, the two-party upset could really send politicians a big message. It's also a great way to force term limits on the politicians who want to stay in office until doomsday.
The two-party system may have worked in years past, but for the last few years it has only created a serious division between Americans. Totally the opposite of striving for unity.
Who says if you can't beat em' — join em'? We have a lot more options to defeat political strategists than most people realize. The pen can definitely be mightier than the sword, using the write-in vote.
Not only would the write-in vote be effective for electing a president, but in state and local elections as well. But here's the downer: the popular vote doesn't elect the president, it's in the hands of the electoral college appointed by each state to cast the vote for the president. On the other hand, if a write-in candidate won the popular vote, this could have a real impact on the electoral college votes.
The first order of business is to get all states involved in the write-in campaign, because there are some states that don't recognize or allow the write-in vote for president or state elections. Few people are probably aware that the late Republican Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, won his senate seat in 1954, as the result of running as a write-in candidate. Boy, talk about an upset!
So far, the candidates contemplating running for president in 2008 leave a lot to be desired. We definitely need some new blood to run for president. Although Rudy Giuliani is a 9/11 hero, he has a lot of heavy baggage that scares away the conservative voters. He's pro-choice, supports gay issues and gun-control — completely opposite of the position of the large base conservatives. Let's face it, if a candidate doesn't garner the support of the Christian and conservative community they will be dead on arrival, as far as their political career goes. Giuliani hasn't formally announced that he will run for president, but many think he is seriously considering taking that route.
Next is Senator John McCain waiting in the shadows and unlike the "Shadow that Knows"(the title of a mystery radio show many years ago, where the shadow knew everything) — nobody — (probably not even McCain) knows where he stands on certain issues. McCain is pro-life, and that's a plus for him, but he also supports fetal tissue research. This is a prime example of McCain not being clear on certain issues. Senator McCain supports the overturning of Roe V. Wade, another plus. But then he stated in an interview he would not support a repeal of Roe V. Wade, because he didn't want to force women into seeking dangerous alternatives to abortion endangering their lives. Now you see what it means for a politician to be talking out of both sides of their mouth at the same time.
After watching Senator Kennedy spewing his usual anti-Bush and anti-Judge Alito rhetoric on the Senate floor — it is obvious that he needs some type of anger management control course. It is one thing to disagree with policies and another to be vicious with the disagreement. But Senator Kennedy is there for the long haul, due to his representing a liberal state, and his namesake carries a lot of weight too.
Senator George Allen, a Republican from Virginia is gaining popularity to be seriously considered to secure the Republican nomination in 2008. Allen certainly agrees with the majority of the issues embraced by the conservatives. And the good senator appears to be congenial and mild-mannered, unlike some of the potential presidential candidates (particularly Hillary Clinton) who have a reputation of not only possessing bad tempers, but showing their anger while sneering at the president, and colleagues in front of the public.
With the two-party system virtually set in stone — the only hope for a substantial impact is for the conservatives to join together and select a powerful write-in candidate for president, and be unanimous in the choice at the polls.
What's the likelihood of this ever happening? About nil . . . but it sounded good anyway!
And that's just my opinion!
© Kaye Grogan
There is a way to beat the two-party political system. If all conservatives would rise up, and write-in Judge Roy Moore or James Dobson for president in 2008, the two-party upset could really send politicians a big message. It's also a great way to force term limits on the politicians who want to stay in office until doomsday.
The two-party system may have worked in years past, but for the last few years it has only created a serious division between Americans. Totally the opposite of striving for unity.
Who says if you can't beat em' — join em'? We have a lot more options to defeat political strategists than most people realize. The pen can definitely be mightier than the sword, using the write-in vote.
Not only would the write-in vote be effective for electing a president, but in state and local elections as well. But here's the downer: the popular vote doesn't elect the president, it's in the hands of the electoral college appointed by each state to cast the vote for the president. On the other hand, if a write-in candidate won the popular vote, this could have a real impact on the electoral college votes.
The first order of business is to get all states involved in the write-in campaign, because there are some states that don't recognize or allow the write-in vote for president or state elections. Few people are probably aware that the late Republican Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, won his senate seat in 1954, as the result of running as a write-in candidate. Boy, talk about an upset!
So far, the candidates contemplating running for president in 2008 leave a lot to be desired. We definitely need some new blood to run for president. Although Rudy Giuliani is a 9/11 hero, he has a lot of heavy baggage that scares away the conservative voters. He's pro-choice, supports gay issues and gun-control — completely opposite of the position of the large base conservatives. Let's face it, if a candidate doesn't garner the support of the Christian and conservative community they will be dead on arrival, as far as their political career goes. Giuliani hasn't formally announced that he will run for president, but many think he is seriously considering taking that route.
Next is Senator John McCain waiting in the shadows and unlike the "Shadow that Knows"(the title of a mystery radio show many years ago, where the shadow knew everything) — nobody — (probably not even McCain) knows where he stands on certain issues. McCain is pro-life, and that's a plus for him, but he also supports fetal tissue research. This is a prime example of McCain not being clear on certain issues. Senator McCain supports the overturning of Roe V. Wade, another plus. But then he stated in an interview he would not support a repeal of Roe V. Wade, because he didn't want to force women into seeking dangerous alternatives to abortion endangering their lives. Now you see what it means for a politician to be talking out of both sides of their mouth at the same time.
After watching Senator Kennedy spewing his usual anti-Bush and anti-Judge Alito rhetoric on the Senate floor — it is obvious that he needs some type of anger management control course. It is one thing to disagree with policies and another to be vicious with the disagreement. But Senator Kennedy is there for the long haul, due to his representing a liberal state, and his namesake carries a lot of weight too.
Senator George Allen, a Republican from Virginia is gaining popularity to be seriously considered to secure the Republican nomination in 2008. Allen certainly agrees with the majority of the issues embraced by the conservatives. And the good senator appears to be congenial and mild-mannered, unlike some of the potential presidential candidates (particularly Hillary Clinton) who have a reputation of not only possessing bad tempers, but showing their anger while sneering at the president, and colleagues in front of the public.
With the two-party system virtually set in stone — the only hope for a substantial impact is for the conservatives to join together and select a powerful write-in candidate for president, and be unanimous in the choice at the polls.
What's the likelihood of this ever happening? About nil . . . but it sounded good anyway!
And that's just my opinion!
© Kaye Grogan
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
