I have heard that there are some people wanting to vote for the third party presidential candidate during this election. That is a very noble idea, and I agree to a degree. However, the libertarian candidate, Bob Barr, like Ron Paul, is adamantly opposed to a woman’s right to choose, which would have a terrible effect upon the Supreme Court with the inevitable appointments coming up. All four of the liberal justices are old enough to retire, and at least two will definitely retire or die in the next 4 to 8 years.
Ralph Nader and the Green Party candidates are the most progressive candidates, but, even if one of them would win, they wouldn’t be able to get anything passed because they would have no other party members in Congress to work with. The Dems and Repubs would eat them alive and make them look terrible, making any future chances at a third party making its way into the system sufficiently virtually impossible, at least in the near future. I know it is a tough reality to swallow, but it is the reality of the matter.
The way to get more parties in is from the bottom up, by getting more independents, Greens, progressives, Libertarians, etc. elected at the lower levels so that the other parties are incorporated into the system, so that when a third party candidate is finally elected into the executive, he or she would have the ability to get something accomplished. Until that happens, we really are stuck with the way that it is. But, of course, as with all of us, you are free to vote with the dictates of your conscience.
To me, the most important issue is the make up of the Supreme Court. Right now, it is 4 to 4 with 1 swing vote. At least 2 of the liberal justices will be retiring or dying (Universe forbid) in the next 4 to 8 years. All of the liberal justices are well beyond retirement age, while all of the conservative justices are young and will last for years to come. If a republican is elected, the make up of the Supreme Court will drastically shift to the right killing human rights as we know it today. Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Chief Justice Roberts (the four conservative justices) are dying to turn the tide on human rights. If a democrat is elected, it will at least stay the same for the next 4 to 8 years.
That, to me, is the number one issue. But again, you are free to vote your conscience.
Unfortunately, there is some really crazy stuff going on with the election ballots in Illinois, which may have the potential to declare them invalid.
The Illinois Constitution requires that it be put up for a vote among the citizens of the State to determine whether it should be reviewed via a Constitutional Convention (a.k.a. a Con-Con) every 20 years. It is due to be on the ballot in this election.
However, a Chicago judge declared the language on the ballot for the Con-Con referendum illegal. The judge found the statements that not voting equals a “no” vote, and that the 1988 referendum failed by a margin of 3 to 1 offensive. I disagree that the first statement was legally offensive because it is informative and information that a voter should have. However, the latter statement is clearly illegal because it is campaigning, in violation of the election law that prohibits campaigning within 100 feet of a polling place.
The judge’s ruling is only binding in Chicago, and the Cook County election officials are examining how to fix the problem. But regardless, the language is on all the ballots statewide, it is too late to change the millions of ballots statewide, and in the worst case scenario, the entire ballots throughout the State could ultimately be considered illegal and declared invalid, wiping Illinois’ electoral votes out of the presidential election.
I sincerely hope this does not happen. However, after the 2000 election, anything is possible.
