[geeks] Glad I don't live in Texas!

[Tim H.]

First of all, elected officials are not supposed to follow the will of the people.  They are supposed to follow their own convictions.  We are (nominally) a republic, as opposed to a democracy.  If we were a democracy we would all get to vote on every law.  

This is the original purpose of campaigns, a person tells the public what his foundational belifs/principles are, and the people get to vote if they want someone like that representing them.  The problem is that politicians attempt to vote the will of the people, but the "will of the people" they see is through the glass of PACs, SIGs, and the people who commision/right the polls.  

I personally would prefer leaders who were consistent with themslves, even if I disagree with them, because I can always vote against them next time.  The problem I have is so many politicians, regardless of affiliation, say one thing in the campaign, then do the opposite "because my constituents wanted it" They are not elected as a funnel for the people, they are elected as an independant representative.  

I'd love to see a high level politician tell the press "I voted this way because I believe it is the right way, Even though the majority of my mail indicates people back home disagree, I told them my viewpoint in the campaign"

Tim

On Wed, 12 Jun 2002 09:37:58 -0500 (CDT)
Eric Dittman <dittman at dittman.net> wrote:

> > Open primaries violate the First Amendment right to free association, forcing
> > political parties to associate with people that don't share their beliefs.
> 
> The laws against open primaries are intended to prevent non-
> party members from tainting the primaries to the benefit of
> their own party.  The idea being that if you want to better
> the chances of your own party you sabotage the primary of the
> other party so the weaker candidate wins the primary.  That
> way your own party wins.  For examples, if you were a Republican
> you could get a drunken murderer to win the Democratic primary
> in Massachussets so the Republican candidate would get elected
> to the Senate, cause only an idiot would vote for the drunken
> murderer...  Oh, wait, no, that doesn't work, the voters do
> keep electing Kennedy.  Let's select another example.  You
> could get a KKK member to win the primary so the other party's
> candidate will win the race for the Senate... Oh, wait, that
> doesn't work, either, as Byrd keeps getting elected.  Will
> Florida have enough sense not to let Reno win the Democratic
> primary (research some of the travesties of justice in
> criminal cases she perpetrated as AG of Florida).
> 
> The best option is to abolish the party system.  Get rid of
> people voting for the party and not the candidate.  Make the
> candidates stand on their own merits, stating their own views.
> 
> Another good idea would be to require the politicians to follow
> the will of the people they represent rather than their party.
> -- 
> Eric Dittman
> dittman at dittman.net
> Check out the DEC Enthusiasts Club at http://www.dittman.net/
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