Well a stab near the heart anyway.
The US political system is corrupt, nobody would argue. The Political Parties are entrenched, decide who will lead, and are heavily influenced by money. The have control, and the people are forced to choose between a candidate of their party they may not like and candidate of the other party. Those candidates are almost completely powerless to meet in the middle, or they will lose the support of their party and never get elected.
Many think the answer is in third party candidates. The problem I see with that, is we get a President (or other office) most people didn't want. A candidate wins with a plurality not majority. In my view this only serves to fracture us even more.
There is another way. We need two things. First in a national initiative process. We need to have a voice in issues that our elected leaders may not even bring up. We send them to office to make the tough choices for us, but we have little recourse when they ignore us.
The second is the "Top Two Primary". In the State of Washington, we passed a ballot measure (this is why we need a national initiative process), against the will of both parties, by a 60% majority in 2004. The Democrats, The Republicans, and the Libertarians all sued in in Federal court, but in 2008 the US Supreme Court upheld the law.
A little more about the Top Two Primary in WA. . .
So using the Presidential election as an example, the primary would include all of the (however many are still in it) Republican contenders, all of the minor candidates who we never even hear of, any Democrats who wish to run, and any other individual or other party candidate. The top two vote getters in the Primary face off in the General, regardless of party.What is the difference between a Top 2 Primary and the Primary Elections in Other States?
Almost all other states in the country conduct nominating Primary Elections. In these states, the primary is for the political parties, because the purpose of the primary is to select each political party’s nominee who will represent the party in the General Election.
For example, if five Republican candidates and 4 Democratic candidates file for the office of Governor, the purpose of a nominating primary is to select the one Republican candidate and one Democratic candidate who will advance to the General Election and represent their respective parties in the General Election, and are frequently required to be a registered member of the party in order to file as a candidate. In this type of election, the candidates are representing their political party when they appear on the ballot. If the state has party registration, the candidate usually must be a registered member of the party in order to file as a candidate of the party. Also, the voters are required to affiliate with a party in order to vote in the Primary and are restricted to voting only for candidates of that party.
In a Top 2 Primary, the primary is for the voters and candidates because the purpose is simply to winnow the number of candidates down to two. The candidates are not representing any political party when they appear on the ballot; they are only representing themselves. Candidates have great freedom to describe the party that they prefer. For example, a candidate might prefer the Pro-Life Republican Party, or the Labor Democratic Party. The party preference information for each candidate is informational only; it has no relevance to the election itself. Also, the voters do not have to affiliate with a party.
The purpose of the Top 2 Primary is not to select each party’s nominees. Political parties are free to conduct their nominating procedures according to their own rules, at their own conventions, caucuses and meetings. This frees the parties to develop their own criteria for nominations, endorsements, and other public declarations of support.
Will there be both a Democrat and a Republican on the ballot at the General Election?
Not necessarily. First, remember that the candidates are not appearing on the ballot representing a party; they are only representing themselves.
Second, remember that the primary is for voters and candidates, not political parties. The parties do not own a spot on the General Election ballot. Instead, the two candidates who appear on the ballot at the General Election are the two who received the most votes in the Primary. These candidates might prefer the same party, different parties, or not state a preference. In some races, all candidates who file declare a party preference for the same party.
Would Obama even make it to the general election under such a system?
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