We've all heard people say it:
Just vote for the best person, regardless of party affiliation. Study each candidate, and pick the best person. Vote for somebody who will do what you want done.
People that advocate voting for the person, not the party, seem to think we are voting for a dictator, and if their candidate can just get enough votes, they will become a benevolent dictator and will actually be in charge, and everything will change....for the better!!!!
But that really is not true. Here is what I learned lobbying in the Alaska Legislature. What I am going to tell you applies just as much to Congress and every other state legislature as it does to Alaska. So pay attention.
In Alaska there are 20 senators representing all the different parts of Alaska. The numbers are different for the US senate and in other state legislatures, but the facts I am about to share with you are identical.
After the election, when all of the senators get to Juneau they form a coalition of other senators from their party. Lets say that 11 republican senators got elected and 9 democrats. That means the republicans will be in charge of the senate. Those 11 senators will decide what bills get voted on, and what bills get ignored. All of the people represented by the 9 democrats, won't get much representation, because the 11 republicans are in charge. They will appoint a republican to chair every committee, and they will make sure each committee has a majority of republicans. Hence no bill can make it through the committee if the republicans are against it.
Now this would be bad enough, if 11 senators were in charge, because at least that is more than half, but it gets worse. The republicans will meet in caucus. That is a private meeting, where only republican senators get to attend. In that caucus they will vote on their priorities. They will agree on what bills get to pass out of committee and go to the floor for a final vote. If the caucus votes against a bill, it is dead.
Hold onto your seats, because here is the bad part. It only takes a majority of the caucus to approve a bill or to kill a bill. That means just 6 senators on the caucus can control the entire senate!
So much for representative democracy! All of the people in Alaska are represented by 20 different senators and when everything is said and done 14 have no real say, because just 6 control the entire senate.
So Does it Matter What
Party Your Candidate Belongs to?
YES, Very Much Indeed.
The main thing your candidate will do is to determine which party will be in control. You need to know what party they will put in charge, because what the majority of those politicians want is what will get voted on, not the peculiar whims and fantasies of the individual person you voted for.
Don't beat up on republicans over what I said here, because when democrats are in the majority it is the same process. And it is the same in the US senate. The US senate has 100 senators, but just 51 are needed to take control, (or 50 plus the vice president from the same party, as has been the case for the last 2 years, and might continue to be the case based on final election results). So if you have 51 senators, it only takes 26 to agree to control which bills get heard or voted on.
It is the same thing in the House of Representatives in Congress and in each state legislature. The numbers are bigger, but the point is the same, it only takes slightly more than 1/4 of the total to control everything.
So please inquire as to which party your candidate will put in charge if elected.
The Party Your Candidate Will Put in Charge Will Have More Effect on You and Your Life,
Than Any Particular Part of Your
Candidates Personal Platform.
You should not vote for a person that belongs to a party that does not represent what you want. Because when you vote for that candidate, you are voting to give more power to their party.
Take care and BE HEALTHY!
CW Jasper
November 2022
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