Poli Sigh is a weekly column featuring a statistical analysis of issues in the upcoming election that matter to us as students, accompanied by the personal impact of these issues on the author as a Northwestern student.
Democrat or Republican: It’s like choosing between apples and oranges. At a glance, these two factions have few similarities. Any candidate that is backed by one of these parties is expected to adhere to and promote its policies. While these oversimplifications are convenient come Election Day, they perpetuate the exclusivity of our two-party system.
Our current system is definitely lopsided and undemocratic, but it isn’t going anywhere. For this reason, I urge my fellow young voters to look at all third party candidates with a grain of salt. They may be the candidate for you, but chances are they won’t be the candidate for enough of us. This is something to keep in mind when casting your vote this November. While I don’t want to discourage anyone from voting for their favorite candidate, in an election this close it may be worth banking on your favorite major party candidate.
Many people, myself included, are voting for the first time on campus. While I am very excited about voting in Illinois, my brief time as an Evanston resident has done little to shed light on local issues and policies. To put it bluntly, I am certainly less familiar than I would like to be with local races.
However, I know I can walk into the voting booth without any prior knowledge about the candidates I am voting for, and merely cast my ballot in party solidarity. If elected, my candidate will serve as an additional proponent of all legislation my party backs, and vocally oppose anything my party is against, right?
Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple. Opencongress.org ranked the members of the 112th Congress on how often they vote with their party. A discrepancy exists, however small, between members of the same party. Unfortunately, these differences barely cover the wide-range of today’s political spectrum.
This is where a third party comes into play. Third parties offer a new, fresh set of policies. They enrich and broaden the political landscape. However, there are only a minority of them in office, and they gain little to no attention from both the media and the public.
Last Wednesday, Chicago hosted a third party presidential debate. Moderated by Larry King, the debate allowed the race’s four most prominent third party candidates a national stage to speak out about their platforms.
There is no doubt that these candidates will play a role in the direction the election swings. In 1991, third party candidate Ross Perot garnered nearly 19 percent of the popular vote. But in 2012, seeing as the election is so close, it’s pretty evident no third party candidates will prove to be as much of a threat. We’re bound by the two-party dynamic, the ultimate choice between apples and oranges. Just as in the case of the local elections, voters in the Presidential election are not only voting for a candidate, they are voting for a party. Sadly no third party is enough of a powerful faction to truly affect chance. But they could still help swing the election, just like 2000.
My dad will never forget the vote he cast in the 2000 election. As members of my liberal-minded family collectively supported Democratic candidate Al Gore, my father faced criticism from family and friends for voting for Ralph Nader, an independent candidate who attracted a number of Democratic-leaning voters. A vote for Nader was a vote against Gore, my family reasoned. Nader had little chance of winning, and the fact that my dad refused to settle for “the next best thing” left us with the worst choice, as many argue that Nader's presence in the race took away enough votes from Gore to give the election to George W. Bush.
This mentality of jumping on the major political party bandwagon is virtually universal. People like to support someone who can actually win. Both Democratic and Republican parties have a history of political dominance. And until the recurring simplicities of two-party politics cease to exist, people will continue to vote in this pattern. While voting for a third party candidate is certainly democratic, it is not the most efficient way to exercise your right to vote. It is up to each voter to weigh the pros and cons of this inequitable system because it isn’t going anywhere.