Top-2 Primary

[Martin Hash]

The weakness of a 2-party system is that there are only 2 parties. Washington State has always been in the vanguard of progressive electioneering. Its people recognize the debilitating effects of a 2-party stranglehold - those self-interested gatekeepers who winnow out potentially stellar candidates in preference to ones that will cater to the demands of Special Interests. For over a century, Washington had a "blanket" primary which allowed voters to choose whoever they wanted - but the parties had that stopped. Then the voters overwhelmingly voted for Top-2 - but the parties had that stopped... Then Top-2 went to the U.S. Supreme Court and won! Top-2 is the best solution so far for breaking the 2-party stranglehold. What Top-2 does is let an independent into the race. In fact, I think a nationwide Top-2 would cause revolutionary change in American politics – eliminating the leverage of extreme partisanship! If American politics is really “broken,” the Top-2 Primary system would be the easiest way to fix it.

[Haven]

Your contender, Monica Stonier, garnered over 50 endorsements within 24 hours of announcing her candidacy in December! Wow, news must really travel fast concerning Clark County legislative candidate announcements. Wait a minute... How were these people: Steve Stuart, Deb Wallace and Tim Probst, etc., able to make a thorough assessment of all the candidates in such short order? No one else had even announced their candidacy, yet each of these elected officials just knew within 24 hours that she was the right pick for the 17th. What type of merit-based objective comparison could they have possibly made in that timeframe? They didn't even need to see who else was running. It's almost like this was all decided in advance... As damning as it sounds, collusion doesn't seem far from the truth. The gatekeepers are hard at work in the 17th.