It Worked [Was: Wikipedia Blackout (& work around)]
blr at robertsr.us
Wed Jan 18 16:39:25 MST 2012
On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 4:22 PM, S. Dale Morrey <sdalemorrey at gmail.com>wrote:
> Well the simplest answer to that lies in who is the representative
> elected to represent and how does someone form a party and how does
> one get on the ballot.
> In Utah to get on the ballot you needs tens of thousands of
> signatures. So many that there are in some cases more signatures
> required than there are people in the voting district. To form a
> political party you need even more.
> An elected representative is not supposed to be elected to serve his
> or her party interests, they are supposed to be elected to serve the
> interests of their constituency. This is why the founding fathers
> warned us against the formation of political parties.
> In the United States of America, political parties are supposed to
> simply be shorthand for a subscribed belief system. That is if I am a
> democrat I am declaring that I subscribe to one set of beliefs, if I
> am a republican then I am declaring that I subscribe to a different
> set of beliefs (although they may not necessarily be mutually
> exclusive). Regardless of my beliefs, I as an elected representative
> am supposed to represent the best interests of my constituency, even
> when they are in conflict with my own personal beliefs. (Note: I am
> not running for office I am merely declared what ought to be self
So, what you're saying is, if closed primaries were made illegal, that
would destroy the 2-party system?
I had never thought of it that way, but being no fan of the 2 party system,
I kinda like it. Unfortunately, not enough to give up the First Amendment
to the U.S. Constitutuion. If a bunch of people want to get together and
use their time, money, and influence to put someone on the ballot, they
have that right.
If Utah election laws are so screwed up that they strengthen the 2 party
system, then I would think changing those laws would be a much saner
solution than tossing free speech out the window.
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