I tend to vote against incumbents unless I can see something that they have done particularly well. In state elections, that can move me to vote against two state representatives both running for state senate. I want to vote for someone who has a record of doing good, even great things. Entirely too often, I am given a choice between a pair who have accomplished nothing remarkable or worthwhile.
True, their party hierarchy may approve of what they have done. Ronald Reagan spoke of an inverse:
He was in office. I am a constituent. My view is that the politician who votes with his or her party all of the time is party hack who often does not represent me – he or she represents a group that wants to run things . . . forever.
Montana’s pols – from both parties – have a record of limiting our choice in elections. My local polling place has been moved twenty miles – while voting by mail is particularly vulnerable to both voter fraud and government blunders, it has been forced on us by elected representatives from both parties. Whether dims or repugnants, they have a vested interest in reducing voter choice.
In my youth, there was a saying that, in Butte, when the primary was over the election was over. When I heard it, it was a Republican sentiment, and Lincoln County elections, with a strong Democrat base in Libby followed the same rule. In 2001, Judy Martz, a former Olympic class speed skater, was elected governor. For 37 years, she and her husband had owned and operated Butte’s garbage collection company. A quarter century later, our state politicians more closely resemble what Judy Martz loaded into the truck over the graveyard shift, with an infant riding in the seat.
So, the first rule of voting is to vote against incumbents, unless they have done something so absolutely great that you can remember it without research.
The second rule of responsible voting is to never mark the ballot for an unopposed candidate. Time was when you could write in Mickey Mouse as a protest vote. The bastards who took away your ability to write in a candidate haven’t all been term-limited out. There were three or four who voted to keep write-in candidates – Zooey Zephyr, a Dem from Missoula was one. Our representatives and senator from the northwest weren’t. Never mark a ballot for an unopposed candidate – it only encourages the bastards.
Politicians, in general, make a point of being easy to like. So do con artists. Bernie Madoff was easy to like (and stayed out of politics). In case memory has failed you, or youth has prevented it, Bernie had a record of running the largest Ponzi scheme in US history, and received a sentence of 150 years. Just as an aside – I read that over 27% of the US national debt has been incurred with Donald Trump as president. Repugnant or Dim, both parties spend your money profligately. Lacking any other criteria, vote for the candidate who is the least likable. The politicians who are likable get together with other likable politicians to do good for themselves (which is often harmful to your best interests). Vote for the irascible curmudgeon whenever you can – he or she will have a hard time finding allies to shaft you.
I’ve watched the popular vote in miniature – the best campaigners tend to be good at campaigning. Nothing else. It is enough. We have a tendency to vote for the best campaigners. When the candidate’s greatest ability is campaigning, it doesn’t say much about how he or she will represent your interests and views. Ignore the campaign rhetoric, and listen to the bad gossip and rumors. Unfortunately, the candidate’s enemies usually have a better grasp on the flaws and weaknesses than the campaign literature offers. In my experience, the best campaigners are not the best legislators.
I guess my voting philosophy boils down to a simple thought – when in doubt, vote them out.
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