Sunday, February 22, 2004
MSNBC - Ralph Nader to run for president
He is right that this country needs more real political parties. I'm sure libertarians, greens, and maybe even DeanForAmerica would love to have a different system, rather than the winner-take-all Electoral College.
Here is my plan: very easy registration to get on the ballot. The California recall proved that you can have 100+ people on the ballot and still get a decent result. Also, electronic voting with a paper trail would help that.
Next, remove the Electoral College. The system would be better served with a ranking system: rank however many of the candidates you like, in order of your desire for them to fill this position. Everyone you don't rank gets tied for last. So ranking the top 3, of 100 candidates, would have 1 #1, 1 #2, 1 #3, and 97 #100s.
Have a runoff of 3, and then 2, then you have a winner. This would require voting 3 times, but that is better than having your vote completely lost in a representational voting scheme we currently have. Note that this would entirely eliminate “strategic voting”, where, like a horse race, you vote for whom you think the winner would be given other people's votes. If Nader voters wanted Edwards before Bush, the rankings would reflect that.
Incidentally, my vote in 2000 would have looked like this:
1) Nader
2) Bush
Tied for last) Gore
I think that I am a bit of an exception in this case. :)
Nader is sort-of wrong when he says Washington is controlled by corporate interests. The point he misses: corporations employ people, and benefiting corporate interests usually benefits employees.
Sometimes too much money is paid to CEOs, but if it were a real problem, you'd see more failing companies. I see no reason why corporations shouldn’t be allowed to be involved in government, because their interests are legitimate and affect the economy and the country as a whole.
But, watch the video of his announcement.
Here is one thing to look for: his right eye blinks independently of his left. I love wonky eyes, a la Thom Yorke
He is right that this country needs more real political parties. I'm sure libertarians, greens, and maybe even DeanForAmerica would love to have a different system, rather than the winner-take-all Electoral College.
Here is my plan: very easy registration to get on the ballot. The California recall proved that you can have 100+ people on the ballot and still get a decent result. Also, electronic voting with a paper trail would help that.
Next, remove the Electoral College. The system would be better served with a ranking system: rank however many of the candidates you like, in order of your desire for them to fill this position. Everyone you don't rank gets tied for last. So ranking the top 3, of 100 candidates, would have 1 #1, 1 #2, 1 #3, and 97 #100s.
Have a runoff of 3, and then 2, then you have a winner. This would require voting 3 times, but that is better than having your vote completely lost in a representational voting scheme we currently have. Note that this would entirely eliminate “strategic voting”, where, like a horse race, you vote for whom you think the winner would be given other people's votes. If Nader voters wanted Edwards before Bush, the rankings would reflect that.
Incidentally, my vote in 2000 would have looked like this:
1) Nader
2) Bush
Tied for last) Gore
I think that I am a bit of an exception in this case. :)
Nader is sort-of wrong when he says Washington is controlled by corporate interests. The point he misses: corporations employ people, and benefiting corporate interests usually benefits employees.
Sometimes too much money is paid to CEOs, but if it were a real problem, you'd see more failing companies. I see no reason why corporations shouldn’t be allowed to be involved in government, because their interests are legitimate and affect the economy and the country as a whole.
But, watch the video of his announcement.
Here is one thing to look for: his right eye blinks independently of his left. I love wonky eyes, a la Thom Yorke
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