Monday, November 8, 2010
Still Not the One
Just before the election I wrote an editorial advocating a formal "none of the above" (NOTA) option on the ballot. I still think the idea has merit. The contribution that it could make is not in yielding whole new "do-over" elections with entirely new candidates--the evidence suggests that NOTA will very rarely win--but rather in supplying a small but real impetus for reform in the behavior of office holders, candidates, and institutions. Check it out and share what you think.
Interesting concept. What I personally did in the early 00's was to change my registration from Dem to the DC Statehood Green Party and when I really don't like the Democrat on the ballot I will vote for the Green candidate soley as a protest vote and to help the Green Party get a few more votes and get a mini-step closer to getting more viable. I also voted for Nader in 00 just out of sheer frustration. I made the switch b/c I feel like the Dems take liberals, African-Americans and a certain subset of women for granted and since I'm all of the above, I didn't want them to automatically count on me. I have yet to come across a Republican for national office I could support and in DC the Republican party is anemic anyway so the Greens are the best I can do.
ReplyDeleteOf course this sort of screws me up in local elections in DC, such as the most recent primary because the Democratic nominee is almost 100% guaranteed to win the general election and I couldn't vote in Democratic primary and had to write in the Democrat candidate I prefered b/c I really wanted to support the current mayor (who lost anyway).