[EM] Dealing With Democrats

[Isabel and Christopher Dicely]

----- Original Message -----
From: "MIKE OSSIPOFF" <nkklrp at hotmail.com>
To: <election-methods-list at eskimo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 2:06 PM
Subject: [EM] Dealing With Democrats


>
> There's been some discussion of using vote-witholding as a stick to
> influence the Democrats. I said that the Democrats aren't reformable, and
so
> the goal should instead be to replace them. How would that work,
> with our current Plurality elections?:

Poorly, clearly. "Democrat dumping" aids the Republicans without providing
any additional
public credibility to third parties (and Republican-dumping has the same
effect in reverse). It
might get the dumped major party to shift toward the "protest" group (if it
has a coherent
platform) in hopes of pre-emption, in the next election cycle; OTOH, it's
got just as much
likelihood to drive them toward the other major party to try to get more of
the vast number
of centrist voters that are convinced that the two major parties are the
only viable options
under the current electoral system.

Of course, the Nader effect should show supporters of any reasonable
preference (or approval)
voting system that fighting the Democrats isn't a productive pursuit --
instead, you ought to be
selling the Democrats on the benefits to the Democratic party of not having,
for instance,
Green votes be effectively Republican votes. Get a major party behind a
sensible voting system
out of rational self-interest, and the pursuit becomes much less quixotic.

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