A Strategy, Of Sorts

Friday, December 8, 2017

In 2016, Colorado passed Proposition 108*, which allows unaffiliated voters to vote in primary elections in our state.

I voted for this initiative, because in my opinion, the more crucial election in Federal races is the primary. With all the gerrymandering accomplished by the GOP over the years, having a say in who the major party candidates will be is the real choice in many districts.

My own district (Colorado District 4) is no different. We've had a Republican representative since 1971, with the exception of one term Democrat Betsy Markey in 2008. We're considered a "safe" district because of this history, so there's always a very good chance that the Republican candidate will win regardless of who the Democrats nominate.

So what's a token liberal to do? Well, nothing, until 2018, other than to vote my conscious and resign myself to being represented by a Libertarian leaning GOP purist.

But in 2018, I can participate in the Republican Primary without having to be a registered Republican, a state of affairs that would simply be intolerable. From where I sit, that means I can affect who the Republican candidate will be, albeit in a very minor way.

You know how the extremists on both the left and the right have pretty much taken over the Democratic and Republican parties with their outsize influence on who will run? Yeah. That shit is over here in Colorado, because the majority party here in Colorado is "unaffiliated." So now that unaffiliated voters have a say in who the opposing candidates will be, this marginalizes the extremists by including (presumably) moderates in the mix. And that influence is only likely to increase, as people choose to be unaffiliated rather than registering with a party only in order to caucus in the primaries (as I did).

So I, as an unaffiliated, liberal voter in District 4, may vote in the Republican primary and choose the least extreme candidate. If enough people do this (on both sides of the aisle), then eventually hyper-partisanship will slowly recede in our state. If the only way to get through the primaries is to move to the middle and not be such an extremist doucheweasel, then more politicians will embrace more moderate positions, something every corner of our nation could use.

Of course, I will continue to vote my conscious in the general election, and the most likely scenario is that I'll continue to be represented by a Republican. But by passing this measure, it's more likely that the Republican in question won't be so conservative, won't vote in such a fiscally irresponsible way, won't be so uninterested in the welfare of their constituents as opposed to donors and super rich people. At least, that's my hope.

It's a strategy of sorts. And I'll take all the hope I can get at this point.
________

*As I recall, the main argument against Prop 108 was something about how unaffiliated voters shouldn't get a say in the primaries because they weren't a member of the political "team" and it would cost more money to have primaries in this fashion. My response to that is fuck you. While it will cost more money to administer the primaries, in a two party system, any legislation that increases voter choice is for the good. No political party should get to choose who the binary candidates are in something so important as representative government. I hope ALL states pass this type of legislation, and SOON.

0 comments: