Voting the Ticket

[Martin Hash]

I’ve been reading the Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Theodore Roosevelt, and one of the mysteries of the political process becomes clear – democracy is more a sport than a method of rational governance. People have much more loyalty to a party than they do to concepts or beliefs. Perversity and spite play a bigger role in politics than either logic or merit, or even self-interest - it’s “My party or nothing!”

“Voting the ticket” is party-speak for this kind of selfish hackery where an otherwise reasonable person will vote for a dog before they will vote for a competent, qualified, and effective candidate from the opposition. This exhibition of mindless devotion is more mystical than rational, and the penalty for not following the herd is at best shunning, but probably some kind of shrill, self-righteous accusations of disloyalty by the party faithful.

An iconoclast, which I proudly claim to be, is the sworn enemy of propaganda and fascism. When there is no discernible quality difference between competing parties, I will of course support mine, but a clear high-caliber candidate from any party should transcend petty loyalties.