Stateside: Rosalea's Next Big Idea

Since every president of the US that ever there was, always says in his victory speech that he'll work hard to represent ALL the people, not just those who voted for him, why not make the vote for president a nonpartisan election?

**Party animals**

Political parties here in the States are shape-shifters, tailoring their appeal to local and regional groups no matter if parts of that appeal is anathema to people from the same party who live in other parts of the country. That's how you get pro-life Democrats in the South and pro-choice Republicans on the West Coast, when it's a fair generalization to say that Republicans want to criminalize abortion and Democrats don't.

**Non-party animals**

Some very powerful posts in this country are held by people elected in nonpartisan races. Nonetheless it's always obvious which party is backing a candidate for mayor or city council, as the parties will formally endorse "their" candidate and include them in the list, or slate, of candidates they urge people to vote for.

**What about the Constitution?**

The Constitution has nothing whatsoever to say about parties or lack thereof. And it leaves the method of choosing the electoral college, which ultimately chooses the president, up to each individual state. It is only by the two major parties' finagling of state laws that the current methods of choosing the electors--who ultimately choose the president--has come about.

**Will it save me money?**

Darn tootin' it will. At present, party presidential nominating conventions are paid for out of taxpayers' pockets. By making the race nonpartisan that cost will go, as will the cost of the presidential primaries, which are also subsidized by the taxpayer.

**So where will the presidential candidates get their support from?**

From the same place they've always gotten support--individuals and groups, including political parties, that back them. Political action committees will move out of the shadows. These are the issue-driven groups that are allowed to raise money for candidates and promote them quite separately from the way parties do.

**And special interest groups?**

Already, special interest groups have a significant effect on who people vote for. For example, the National Taxpayers Union rates candidates by how they voted on tax measures in previous congressional sessions. In its November 4 press release, the NTU pointed out that, among other races that were decided by voters' positions on taxes, "Senate incumbent Tom Daschle, who consistently chalked up F grades on NTU's Rating, will be replaced by John Thune, who generally posted B grades during his House tenure."

**What if some whacko gets elected?**

Hmmm. Sufficient whacko presidents of all stripes have already been elected to make that question a non-starter, I'm afraid.

So folks, that's Rosalea's latest big idea. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the National Taxpayers Union, but since that organization has such a lovely clear list showing the power that nonpartisan groups wield in the US, I thought I'd give you a link to their website:
http://www.ntu.org/main/misc.php?MiscID=4

--Peace--

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