Not everyone likes the extremes of the right or the malaise of the left. One of the people who prefers the middle is Lynda Schuh, who readers of the Daily Press may recognize as a frequent author of thoughtful Readers’ Forum letters.
Schuh recently organized a class called “Exploration of a ‘Middle’ Political Party” at the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning. Since we had discussed my columns about political parties by email, Schuh suggested I enroll in the class. I joined 11 others for the discussion.
I wish I could predict that our class will be the first step in a national movement for complete revival of true American values. We didn’t finish that task in an hour and a half, but I think many Americans are having similar discussions. I was surprised and impressed with the variety of backgrounds and opinions leading to the same conclusion.
One of the topics we discussed was why it is so easy to criticize the two-party system, but so hard to change it. Several people mentioned ranked-choice voting as a possible improvement. I’m an enthusiastic supporter, as long-term readers of this column will recognize.
The current plurality winner system is the worst of all worlds. The candidate with the most votes short of a majority may be the least popular. I think no one should be elected without being acceptable to the majority of voters.
Ranked choice voting is a system that ensures the winner has a majority. Voters rank acceptable candidates. It is used in Maine, Alaska, New York City and various other cities, including Las Cruces and Santa Fe in New Mexico.
The other way to ensure majority winners is to have a runoff between the top two, if no candidate tops 50 percent. This system is used in primaries in many southern states including Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.
Forming a new party will be extremely difficult without election reform. Many voters fear their votes will be wasted if they vote for a third-party candidate. The example most often cited is the 2000 election, when enough people in Florida voted for the Green Party’s Ralph Nader to have elected Al Gore had they not cast a protest vote.
Despite the risk, many members of our class said they had voted for third-party candidates. I worked for and voted for Republican- turned-independent John Anderson in 1980. Others voted for Ross Perot in 1992 or 1996. One person said he had once voted for Communist Gas Hall rather than for major-party candidates he didn’t like. I supported George Wallace in 1968, but fortunately wasn’t old enough to cast my ill-informed adolescent vote. None of us admitted to voting for Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party (officially the Progressive Party) in 1912.
In an election with either ranked choice or a runoff, voters could vote for their favorite candidate first and an acceptable major-party candidate second, without fear that their vote would actually help their least favorite candidate.
Another issue that several people in our group thought important was the need for legislative term limits. I’m skeptical about limiting who I can vote for, although I understand the argument and could compromise. But what are the limits of compromise?
Everyone has lines they won’t cross. Some won’t join a party that supports certain issues and others won’t join a party that doesn’t support those same issues. The idea of a political party is to agree on common principles. Even in our group of 12 there were significant differences. Would “middle” voters get tangled up in arguments that undermine their need for unity?
We talked about closed primaries. Last year, for the first time, independent New Mexico voters could request a major party ballot in primaries. This had been possible, but so bureaucratically difficult that many independents didn’t bother. Now it’s easy.
The votes for and against the open-primary bill were bipartisan. Some party stalwarts fear strategic voting, where people cross over to weaken the other party rather than support their own. But apparently most legislators wanted the 23 percent of independent voters to vote in their primary rather than in the other one.
For my first 20 years in Grant County, I reluctantly registered as a Democrat, because there weren’t many Republicans running in primaries. I’m glad that I can now register honestly as an independent, although I don’t agree much with our Republican state legislators.
It’s nice to know that I’m not alone in my distaste for the two major parties. Unfortunately, I fear that we’ll have to put up with them for a few more years. Talking about a middle party is easier than creating one.
