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It is my sincerest hope every person reading this column is aware of the upcoming election. I also hope those who take time to consider the issues and candidates thoughtfully will make sure they are registered and will vote, especially if they agree with me.
However, even those of us who are determined to cast an informed, intelligent vote may find it difficult to do so. This is because there are some people, namely the candidates themselves, who, it seems, do not want us to know where they stand on the issues.
Of course, all candidates will say they want voters to know where they stand; they’ll tell us they support education and small businesses (whatever that means) and they understand the concerns of everyday, hardworking, middle-class people (as if that tells us anything). When it comes down to it, though, most are not willing to take a specific stance on the issues publicly.
To illustrate this point, we can look at Project Vote Smart. It is an excellent resource for doing candidate research. The organization maintains a Web site which provides information on national, state and local elections across the country. It provides candidates’ biographical information, voting records, speeches and interest group ratings. What is especially important, though, is the Political Courage Test, an extensive questionnaire on a very broad range of issues which the organization sends to every candidate listed on the Web site. Viewing a candidate’s responses to this survey is extremely helpful … if the candidate chooses to fill it out. Sadly, most don’t.
Neither of our candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives has completed the survey, nor have our presidential candidates.
In fact, of the six listed candidates for president (yes, six), only two have completed the survey: the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr, and the Constitutionalist candidate, Chuck Baldwin. In our own state, only two of the five candidates for U.S. Senate have completed it: a Libertarian and an independent.
Third party candidates and independents seem much more likely to talk about their positions, and this is understandable because when you don’t have name recognition, money or major party support, the only way to attract votes is to have clear, strong opinions that get people excited. The other reason, of course, is that third-party candidates don’t have anything to lose.
In that sense, I can understand why major candidates are hesitant to reveal their positions. If you are close to winning a race, the last thing you want to do is to take some clear position that might cost you votes. They must figure it’s better to let people assume you agree with them. But how arrogant is it to ask for somebody’s vote and yet refuse to tell him or her where you stand? Sure, campaigns these days have e-mail addresses so you can contact them with questions, but if you can get a major party candidate to respond, you will have had more success than I.
Jim Risch illustrates this perfectly. He refused to take part in the Senate debate here at the university, he refused to complete the Political Courage Test and his campaign Web site lists only a few, vague positions. How can he expect us to vote for him when he won’t even tell us where he stands?
The most frustrating thing is Risch will still win the election. People will vote for him because they assume he agrees with them because he is a Republican, even though he will not divulge his political views in public. Who knows, maybe he does agree with me on most issues (unlikely), but why should I cast my vote on that chance?
Whenever a third-party candidate is mentioned, we hear talk of “throwing away your vote,” but by what stretch of the imagination, is it better to vote for candidates who won’t tell you what they think? Is that worth your vote? Of course, just being clear and specific is not enough reason to vote for a candidate, but it should be at least a minimum requirement.
Being a vague member of a major party may be enough to win an election, but it won’t get my vote, and it shouldn’t get yours, either.
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