Tom Tancredo, third parties and a failed process.

Competition is always good. Always.

The more competitors, the more choice and the better off we all are. This applies to goods and services. It applies to public schools. And, yes, it applies to political candidates. More choice is never a bad thing. Ever.

When choice becomes a bad thing, there is something wrong with the system that creates that result.

Tom Tancredo is not the problem. Third parties are not the problem. Our two party election process, including plurality voting, is the problem. A two party duopoly, controlling and limiting the choices of every American citizen, is the problem.

If we want a better America, criticizing competition is misplaced.

Colorado Republican state chair Dick Wadhams called Tancredo's plan to run for governor as the American Constitution Party candidate "reprehensible." It is not. What is "reprehensible" is a system that gives the people of Colorado two really bad choices for governor. Anyone trying to solve that problem is not "reprehensible." People defending the status quo are not "reprehensible" either, but they are horribly misguided.

Most people, even die hard political activists, act as if the two party system and plurality voting are some immutable law of nature, like gravity. Our election process is not a law of physics. It is not even a law of our Constitution.

It is a process that has simply evolved without any particular design, intelligent or otherwise. We can change it if we are willing to recognize the problem. Pretending that Tancredo and third parties are the problem is a bad diagnosis.

Our system is broken. While there is no panacea, there are ways to fix it. Approval voting is one such fix.

1.   capitalistbitch
     July 23rd, 2010 @ 4:26 pm

   Ok, wait! I do find it distasteful that Mr. Tancredo so recently was condemning those who chose to run third party.

2.   Heidi
     July 23rd, 2010 @ 5:26 pm

   I agree NO 3RD PARTY CANDIDATES, it never works out for us..

3.   capitalistbitch
     July 23rd, 2010 @ 5:46 pm

   Heidi:

   It all depends on who “Us” is.

   The Republicans as a party? Agreed, third party candidates mess things ALL up for the Republicans.

   But when you talk about tax paying citizens, then I can definitively say that things never go well for “us” when we vote status quo. It’s counted on and abused by the major parties.

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