By Melissa Horste
Jim is relatively new to political activism, but that didn’t stop him from hosting his first political fundraiser for Voters Not Politicians at the Community Unitarian Universalists Brighton (CUUB) on June 11th in order to help our organization with the resources we need to fight against anti-voter extremism, expand voting rights and transform our democracy.
A rheumatologist by trade, Jim has spent the last three decades holding a clipboard with patient information, not petitions. Like many VNP supporters, Jim was motivated to act recently out of concern with the state of our democracy.
I, like many Michiganders, became interested in redistricting because the political maps divided the lake behind my home along with the community around the lake, complicating conservation efforts.
Jim’s support of VNP goes beyond our successful fight to end partisan gerrymandering in Michigan and to give Michiganders the power to draw their own lines. During his remarks at the June 11th fundraiser, he connected his support for VNP to his core values. Jim is an active member of the Community Unitarian Universalists Brighton (CUUB), which upholds the values of equality, inclusion, access, fair, safe, just, supportive, and cooperative. Jim does his best to reflect these values in both his actions and his words. While this shapes his personal experience, he often wonders what would happen if others adopted and lived these values.
Multiply these nurturing values from me, to you, to WE, and waves form, magic happens, and worlds are transformed. This is the Quantum Leap from particle back to wave. From one person living these values to many people living these values. Waves of Justice, Equality, Access, Inclusion, Safety, and Cooperation. Waves like VNP, CUUB, Sierra Club, and Indivisible. People like you. This is BIG MAGIC, as Elizabeth Gilbert titled her book. Something larger than us, something that comes through us in waves if we are present and allow it to.
Regardless of your experience and background, we all bring qualities to the table that can make Big Magic happen. What Voters Not Politicians is striving to accomplish is larger than any individual and each one of us can make a contribution to revitalize our democracy and empower Michiganders. Every dollar raised, door knocked and signature collected is a part of the wave of transformation. What matters is understanding our shared values and to reflect those in our words and above all else our actions.
I constantly hear things like 89% of the American people want better background checks for gun buyers. Or 80% of Americans support a women’s right-to-choose with reasonable restrictions i.e. Roe vs Wade. How is this possible that these are not part of our laws? It is because our lawmakers are carrying out the wishes of THEIR voters.
In a significant number of elections, with our two-party system of closed partisan primaries, less than five-percent of total registered voters choose the winning candidate. Those candidates then act rationally. They enact laws and regulations which their voters support.
The only plan that will ensure enactment of broadly supported public policies is an election process that elects public officials who have broad public support. Our present partisan primaries elect partisan candidates who are threatened with a “primary” unless they vote the party or special interest line.
If you are not focused on nonpartisan open primaries the other stuff won’t matter much. Extremist/special-interest office holders can and will find ways to thwart popular public policies, like common sense gun laws, comprehensive immigration policy, rational environmental policies etc. etc. because if they don’t, they will be “primaried.
Going forward we need to enact open primaries in blue states, red states in all states, state by state. It doesn’t matter who is in power, red or blue. Enacting open-primaries and rank-choice-voting in red states will elect more moderate red-state politicians. No more Trumps. Fewer Jim Jordans, Ted Cruzes and maybe no Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
For example, in our present equally divided two-party system assume that 25% of a party’s registered voters vote in a partisan primary senate race with 5 primary candidates and the winning candidate garners 30% of the vote. The percent of the total registered voters supporting the winning candidate is equal to:
50% times 25% times 30% which is 3.75 % of the total registered voters.
How can we expect anything else but flip-flopping from one extreme policy to the other or total gridlock when 3.75 % of the most extreme or special interest registered voters are choosing our political candidates? Who loves this system, special interests and extremists?
Importantly we don’t necessarily need to change the current political office holders, we need to change (broaden) their voters, their constituents.
The answer, all candidates running for the same office regardless of party affiliation must run in the same primary, on the same ballot. To choose the winning candidate several different methods can be used like in California the top-two candidate runoff in the general election or in Alaska the top-four candidate runoff in the general election and if no candidate receives 50% voter support, Rank-Choice-Voting is used to determine the winning candidate.
No more “you’re primaried” because everyone is “primaried”, every election for that office by all the voters. This produces electoral office holders who will need to stay in tune with a broad base of voters across party lines and special interests. We, the American voters can do this, enact “Open Primaries” state by state and make our democracy work.
Leon Jackson
810 824 2585