Conservative View--Allow Access to Ballots

     As the Presidential election approaches, it looks like America will have the choice of Obama vs. Romney (aka  Obama lite).  Across the country, Republican and Democratic candidates will fill ballots in hopes of a "coattails" victory.  America will hear the same tired ideas again and again.  It doesn't have to be this way.

     A major way that Democrats and Republicans use to maintain power is government printed ballots.  There was a time when ballots were not printed.  Voters had to either write the names of candidates on ballots or use ballots printed by various political organizations.  At that time, as little as 58% of incumbents were re-elected according to the Ballot Access News .  In modern times, usually more than 85% are re-elected.  Incumbents use restrictions of access to government printed ballots to control competition.   This leads to the same ideas from the same candidates, over and over and over again.

     What if we didn't have ballot restrictions?  What if any person qualified to hold an office could be on the ballot for that office by following a simple procedure?  That seems to be fairer and better for America than having candidates swear loyalty to the Democratic or Republican Party before they can run for office.  Won't the ballot be confusing if there are too many candidates?  Data from other countries with less restrictive ballot laws show that there are usually only five or six people on the ballot.  I think that is far better that the United States, where Republican or Democratic candidates often run unopposed.

     Doesn't a person need the backing of a Party to win?  It is easier to win an election if you have an organization like a political party backing you.  However, there are at least three alternative parties that would be ready to go if their candidates could easily appear on government ballots.  The Libertarian Party has more than 250,000 registered members and over 300 elected officials (mostly in non-partisan office) nationwide.  The Green Party is an international movement that is good at attracting high profile (Ralph Nader) candidates.  The Constitution/American Independent Party(California) has more than 400,000 registered members.  Any of these parties could support viable candidates if they could get them on the ballot.  As a Conscious Conservative, I believe this probably will not happen soon.  Democrats and Republicans are afraid of the competition.

No Longer Your Father's Libertarian Party

   Today the Libertarian Party (LP) sent a broadcast e-mail to its members which announced the creation of the Libertarian National Campaign Committee (LNCC).  The creation of this organization marks a turning point in Libertarian history.  Up until this point, the Party has tended to run "educational" campaigns, whose goal was as much to spread small-government philosophy as it was to win elections.  Wayne Allen Root,a former Libertarian Vice-Presidential Candidate is acting as the committee's chairman.

   Root stated in an attached video that this is "No Longer Your Father's LP."  He calls himself a "Capitalist Evangelist" and promises to lead libertarian candidates to victory.  The LNCC  is planning to act like similar branches of the Republican and Democratic Parties and become a fundraising machine for LP candidates.  As a Conscious Conservative who has followed Libertarian politics for a long time, i will be interesting to see how this project works.

Vote Like a Conscious Conservative

The 2010 election is less than a month away.  This is the perfect time to exercise your Conscious Conservative brain power and vote for candidates that will promote true conservatism in public office.  Be careful, there are many Unconscious Conservatives out there.  They will try to fool you with labels like Republican, family values candidate, Tea Party, Patriot.  A label is not an ideology.  I propose that we vote for only Conscious Conservatives and offer this quick guide to help.

1.  A Conscious Conservative can be of any party.  Republicans want you to believe that they have a monopoly on conservatism.  Many Republican Party candidates are Unconscious Conservatives,or not conservative at all.  Often you will find the Conscious Conservative is running under the label of the Libertarian Party, the Conservative Party or the Constitution Party.  Sometimes even the Democratic Party candidate will be the Conscious Conservative of the bunch.

2.  Look at the candidate's stand on the issues.  If you cannot determine the candidate's opinions, they are not a Conscious Conservative.  Often however, they will try to deceive you with Unconscious Conservative issues.  

                     Unconscious Conservative-  There should be prayer in public school.
                     Conscious Conservative-     There should be private schools.

                     Unconscious Conservative-  There should be a flat tax or fair tax.
                     Conscious Conservative-      There should be no direct tax on people's labor.

3.  Look at what a candidate has actually done.  Too often, talk is cheap.

4.  Don't be afraid to write in a vote or not vote at all.  The politicians count on the fact that we want to do our part as good Americans and vote.  They have manipulated that desire by creating a system where we are offered substandard candidates and are encouraged to vote for them.  You don't have to, it's okay.

I hope that you will follow this guide and go to the polls this November with an eye towards only voting for Conscious Conservative candidates.

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