In the Polling Booth
Election season is upon us once again. Social media and local TV stations are rubbing their proverbial hands together anticipating a flood of revenue for airing truly vacuous/vicious/misleading/strident ads. As you confront this flood, I have a few thoughts to possibly inform your electoral choices.
Unless you are registering a protest vote, you probably want to cast your ballot for someone who has a chance of winning. I heard some good advice on that subject during a presentation by James Carville and Mary Matalin — a dyno-mite comedy duo. The occasion of the presentation took place in the midst of a presidential primary campaign. Mary cited five criteria she used for judging the viability of a presidential contender.
- Credibility: When asked “what is your reason for wanting to be president,” the candidate’s answer passed the giggle test.
- Fund raising: The candidate had the ability to raise large amounts of money, from donors both small and large.
- Organization: the candidate had the ability to attract and organize a large crowd of volunteers, willing to staff phone banks and walk door-to-door.
- Thick skin: The candidate had the ability to endure intense scrutiny, including scurrilous and unfounded charges, without losing focus.
- Stamina: The candidate had the wherewithal to campaign all day and dial for dollars half the night . . . and do so day after day.
In a modified fashion, I have used those criteria to judge candidates for office at all levels of government and found it predictive. Candidates who check all of Mary’s boxes tend to have a good chance to win.
My second possibly useful insight revolves around the huge error we usually make in voting for someone we like, instead of someone who can get the job done. When voting for mayor, ignore foreign policy chops. The job of a mayor is to keep the water running, the sewage treated, the potholes filled, the fire department staffed and the police motivated. The job of a legislator is to master the parliamentary process, and to assess the implications of policy choices. Put more directly, the legislator’s job is to cast votes intelligently. The President has an impossible job — head of state, armed forces’ commander in chief, CEO of a huge bureaucracy, national symbol, leader of a political party, etc. Our selections swing from pillar to post because no human being is good at all those things. When you are voting for somebody, try to find a candidate who will be good at the job you are trying to elect him/her to do.
My last thought on the subject of voting is pure heresy, politically incorrect in the extreme. We are making a huge error by trying to increase voter turnout. Automatically registering those who come in for drivers’ license renewal, lowering the voting age, same day registration, vote-by-mail, re-enfranchising felons, failure to check ID, etc. are a disservice to democracy. Voting is a right in that all citizens should have equal and unfettered access to the polling booth. More than that, it is a privilege. Very few human beings in the whole history of our species have been able to meaningfully participate in the selection of their law givers. Successful democracy requires an informed and motivated electorate, voters who take the privilege seriously. If you can’t bother to show up at the county clerk’s office to register and/or report a change of address, you don’t deserve the privilege. If your connection to civil society is so tenuous that you can’t bother to get a no-cost ID from your state’s department of motor vehicles, you don’t deserve the privilege. If you can’t bother to show up on election day, or make arrangements for an absentee ballot, you don’t deserve the privilege. If you have been convicted of a felony, meaning a very serious violation of our society’s norms, you should be stripped of the voting privilege for a good long time. We need voters who take the vote seriously and do their best to make informed choices.
