 |
Add to My Group
Cleaning the Two Party Garbage Out of the DrainTo Make Room for the Cream of the Heart
By Rob Kall (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)
I am ready to demand that all elections for office be done using instant run-off or some comparable approach that requires that an election come down to two people, with people being allowed to select their first, second, third and fourth choices, gradually eliminating the ones with the least votes-- and all that can be done with paper back-ups for recounts and verification.
With congress getting such bad ratings, it is time for all of us, engaging in a bipartisan effort, to come together and demand these two changes be instituted as federal laws that apply to all elections nation-wide. This is worth protesting and demonstrating about.
The question is, how do we make it happen when the Democrats an the Republicans will both fight this? I don't have an answer. If you don't like Obama or McCain, and you're considering throwing your vote away on a candidate who can't win, you should, at least, in addition to complaining how both candidates suck, be woring your ass off doing all you can so that the next round, when you vote for a third party candidate, your vote will count. Fail to do that and it makes no sense to use your vote to send your message of dissatisfaction-- political masturbation-- fantasization that gives you brief relief.
All the third party orgs should be joining together, recruiting independents and huge percentage of Democrats and Republicans who are disgusted with congress and their parties, to build a big, strong movement that demands equal treatment for third parties and some form of instant runoff or similar voting that lets people vote for their most preferred candidates AND second and third choices. Get enough people behind this-- there should be tens of millions-- and the wisdom of the crowd and the power and momentum of the sheer mass of the people behind this movement will come up with the answers from the bottom up.
My title refers to the cream of the heart. When we can vote for the candidate who we find most matches our own vision, values and beliefs, we're voting from the heart. That's what we should be able to do. If we are able to do that, I believe that the system will change. Candidates will be forced to stand for a lot more. They'll have to keep their promises and pay a lot more attention to the people. We have the tools, through the net, through instant messaging and texting and all the new media to be much more effective at communicating with our legislators. There's no reason why every issue facing congress and every state or local government could not be voted upon by the people, and counted by district, or the area any elected offial represents.
The two party system might have been a viable model when candidates travelled by horse drawn coach or train, when they used the postal service to communicate. But in today's world, the two party system is fetid dinosaur that is, year after year, grinding away at the constitution, at democracy and the future of America. It's time we the people rise up and come together-- from the left and right-- to replace it with something better.
Here's a poll:
1 | 2
Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, Host of the Rob Kall Bottom Up Radio Show (WNJC 1360 AM), President of Futurehealth, Inc, (more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
 Contact Author |
Contact Editor |
 View Authors' Articles |
by Don Fitz
$5.95
Number of pages: 3
Publisher: WD Press
by James P. Langan
$5.95
Number of pages: 37
Publisher: College of William and Mary, Marshall Wythe School of Law
by Betty K. Wood
$5.95
Number of pages: 6
Publisher: WD Press
by Rob Richie
$5.95
Number of pages: 2
Publisher: WD Press
| 42 comments |
Want to post your own comment on this Article? 
|
||||
|
||||||||||||||
Must Read (0) 
Well Said (0) 
News (0) 
Touching (0) 
Funny (0) 
Supported (0) 
Interesting (0) 
Inspiring (0) 
Valuable (0) Tell a Friend:
|
Copyright © 2002-2009, OpEdNews |
