Concise Voting Guide

Here is my reasonably concise voting guide--useful in almost any situation and any locality. It guides the way that I vote every time I go into the booth and it comes from a place of deep skepticism and a tiny bit of distrust of government.

1. Just Say No
Firstly, regarding any amendments to constitutions, any new laws, and any new taxes, when there is any doubt, vote no. The feeling that "something must be done" rarely leads to good legislation. The real answer is that, assuming that there is a problem, "something must be done that will actually fix the problem without making the situation worse." The government isn't particularly good at making problems better; skepticism is in order.

It's rare that new legislation will actually solve a problem. It's even rarer that the solution won't have some other unforeseen ill effects. On the grand majority of issues facing you, it's hard to go wrong with "no."

2. Don't Vote
This won't be popular, but I stick by it. If you haven't done the research, if you haven't paid attention, if you don't know what the issues are, and you haven't read your local voting guides, don't vote. Yes, a vote is a right, and, yes, you have every right to ignore my words, but would you take a driver's test without studying? Would you take apart your car in hopes of fixing a suspension problem even though you have no idea what a strut looked like?

When you vote, particularly in a presidential election, the repercussions of our national decision can ripple throughout the world; while your one vote may not make a difference, large blocks of voters do make a difference. If you haven't done enough study to understand the issues involved or the people involved, don't vote. Leave it up to the people who care enough to take part.

3. Vote the Position
Remember to vote for the person who will represent you best in the position that they are filling. That is, your local representative won't be making the decision to invade another country, but the President of the United States isn't going to be the man who fights against the abuses of eminent domain in your city or locality. Consider a third party candidate or opposition candidate on a local level when that person will represent your local beliefs better than your party's candidate; I won't vote for or against a President or local representative based on what he or she can't influence.

The caveat to that is that on a national level, for an American President to have a strong mandate from the people, he or she also needs to have support from the members of the House and Senate. Politics is like a game, though; the idea in any election is to use the best tactics to get the people in place to address your issues. Any single election is just a battle, and winning or losing an election doesn't necessarily win you a war. The idea is to win enough of the battles, in the right way, that you have a situation for a real victory. Which is important in consideration to the next rule.

4. Prioritize
In addressing your long term voting strategies, you have to know what issues are most important to you not just for this election but also for the long term. Prioritizing your issues will let you look at the candidates and people not just in terms of how you feel about them, but how they can help you to attain your overall goals.

For example, my issues can be summed up like this:

• War on Terror
  
• Entitlement Reform (for long term fiscal health)
  
• Tax Policy
  
• Free Trade
  
• Government Spending
  
• Education Policy
  

None of these is as simple as a few words in a list, but I know where the most important issues are for me. If I looked at both candidates for President, and what I believe of what they say, which one would best represent my beliefs in the short term on those issues (and in that order)? Believing, as I do, that neither candidate can get me to a place where I feel like we have those problems solved (George Bush may put Social Security reform in place, but Medicare would remain a frightening entitlement that needs its own reforms, for instance), which candidate is going to move me toward my goals on those issues?

Obviously, someone with significantly different issues or wildly different takes on the same issues will come up with an entirely different set of candidates. The point is elections aren't just something that we do once every couple years; they're a process that moves the country over a long period of time. The country is, in some ways, like a giant ship: it can take a long time to change course. The question in every election isn't just what do I believe we need over the next x years, but what direction do I want to nudge the ship to get it closer to that final destination?

Since that local rep will have a different capacity to affect changes on your life, your list of priorities will probably change somewhat at each level of government. It shouldn't change in overall strategy, though; the various levels all need to support a sort of unified set of beliefs that make up your strategic goals. If they don't support each other, then they aren't helping you achieve anything.

So, in sum, vote no, don't vote if you haven't kept up, vote the person that meets your needs at every level with an eye toward your overall strategy--a strategy that you have devised by understanding your priorities and beliefs.

Posted by zombyboy at October 19, 2004 10:33 AM