restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations
This Presidential Election, Dont Follow the Crowd!
Scripture says, Do not follow a multitude to do evil (Exodus 23:3). The reason is simple. The crowd is usually headed in the wrong direction. As Jesus once noted, Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many people go in by it (Matthew 7:13).
The principle is obvious. When in doubt about which way to go, it is a pretty safe policy not to get caught up in the rush. To be sure, social movements are often most successful when theyre complemented by a supportive electoral force. But such a force has been mostly lacking the last two decades for true conservatives, as the Democratic and Republican parties have grown more similar. This has frustrated the efforts of constitutional activists and led many of us to begin considering third party candidates. The popularity of such websites as LewRockwell.com and Dixie Daily News shows that there clearly is a significant constituency for paleoconservative ideas in America. What have been missing are the candidates willing to run on them.
If you had asked me in 2000 whether I thought voting for a third party candidate could make a significant impact on the political scene, I would have said no. As an essayist once put it on LewRockwell.com, The spectacle of elections grows more absurd every year. We are asked to cast ballots for people we do not know because they make promises they are under no obligation to keep. Whats even worse, the voting gesture is pointless on the margin. The chances that any one vote (meaning your vote) will actually have an impact are so infinitesimally small as to be meaningless.
However, I would remind you of three facts. First, more voters turn out when an election is close: voters realize that their vote is more likely to count, and parties concentrate their election resources on reaching voters in marginal seats. Second, informed voters turn out more than uninformed ones. Finally, citizens are less likely to turn out when they see no difference between the main contenders. One perception is that this happens when voters are disaffected; it can also happen when they would be equally happy with either alternative.
So I havent given up on the idea of a viable third party candidacy in 2004. To be sure, the Democratic and Republican parties are so powerful that good candidates in small parties seldom have a chance of winning an election. The America First Party, the Reform Party, and the Libertarian Party each have a wide base of followers throughout the country, but the media doesnt pay any attention to them and they cant compete in terms of advertising with the two main parties. Because the chances of victory are so slim, voters who support a third party candidate may not bother to vote.
My sense is that millions of Americans deeply believe it is time to forge a new coalition. Voters are fed up with the two main parties. They are also much more independent-minded about the quality of life they want for themselves and their families. The time is ripe for real change. Jesse Ventura proved it when he upset two highly financed political machines in Minnesota. Whatever the reasonsfallout from years of abusing the Constitution, the hubris of our politicians, or the general unease brought on by Americas foreign policyvoters are suddenly open to new voices, new ideas, new leadership. And remember, only about one third of all eligible voters bothered to vote in the last election. All this leaves a huge number of people looking for a reason to vote.
Its time to stop following the multitude to do evilremembering, of course, that the multitude does not always endorse what is obviously evil. It may be far more dangerous when it espouses what is apparently good.
May 5, 2003
David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.