LPM OnlineAugust 4, 1998 |
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The following article is the latest in a series of Op-ed articles written by LPM Chari Tim O'Brien and submitted to news outlets across the state for publication. This latest article appeared Thursday, July 30 in the Detroit News. Wayne county voters should take a moment to appreciate the range of candidates on the August 4th primary ballot before exercising their franchise. In the overwhelming majority of county-wide races it is the last opportunity they will have this year to see the names of candidates who have not been pre-approved by County Executive, Ed McNamara. How is it that the County Executive can have such control over the ballot? In order to be elected to public office major party candidates must first win their party's primary election in August (for which taxpayers, incidentally, have thoughtfully picked up the tab.) Indeed, in what the major parties call "safe" districts -- for example, Democrats in Detroit -- winning the primary amounts to winning the office. Now a primary is quite different from a general election in terms of voter "demographics." Primary voters tend to be both older and more attuned to all things political. Given that, what can we infer about these folks? Most significantly for the McNamara machine, they are in relatively larger proportion "absentee" voters. That is, they receive their ballots in the mail, mark and return them, all a month or so before the polls ever even open for everyone else. Now comes the crucial point: this means that for absentee voters the entire process is completed well before the deluge of campaign advertising inundates the rest of us. In fact, even as you are reading these words, for about one in four of those who will participate, the August 4th primary election is already over. The die (or in this case, the ballot) is cast. Because the absentee vote is so large a fraction of the total, as a practical matter, one cannot win the primary election without specifically campaigning for it. Add to this one other thing we can say for certain about absentee voters -- that they are necessarily reachable by mail -- and the obvious solution is to send literature to everyone (or, more efficiently, every household) who will be receiving an absentee ballot. One cannot cost-effectively advertise to these people by any other means. Obviously, candidates cannot send literature to this enormous segment of the electorate without first acquiring in some useful form a mailing list of these voters. While each of the communities that comprise Wayne county, of course, has its own such list in order to mail out the ballots, obtaining this information from all 43 would be a herculean task. Further, even if accomplished, the resulting uncoordinated and unfiltered mass would be virtually useless since there is no way to eliminate the duplication of "multiple-voter households," distinguish the Democrats from the Republicans, the frequent voters from the occasional, and so forth. Making sense of this chaotic universe of absentee voters would be like trying to separate out the defensemen from a complete and totally undifferentiated NHL roster. Multiplied by about 1,000. Finally, even if some organization of the data could be accomplished, these would still need to be standardized from the various sources and formats and consolidated into a single list in order to make the postage affordable. One obscure little company in Lansing has eliminated this entire problem by continuously tracking, updating and organizing all of this information into a useful database. Very few voters would have ever heard of this company or its owner. However, every elected official in Wayne county is painfully familiar with both. Necessarily so. Those who do not go on bended knee are, almost by definition, not elected officials in Wayne county. Indeed, everyone from politicians seeking Metro airport service contracts for their friends to sitting Wayne county judges go all atremble at the mere mention of his name for the company unabashedly proclaims that it serves Democratic and independent (read: judicial) candidates, if and only if they have been approved by...guess who? Wayne County Executive, Ed McNamara. These critical mailing lists are simply unavailable to anyone who isn't a friend of Ed. Supplicants must, in fact, have written permission from the County Executive to be permitted this sine qua non of electoral success. Going to a different mailing house will avail the unfavored candidate naught since all the rest rely on the same, single source for any particular, county-wide voter list. Now, many less politically connected citizens will no doubt wonder how it is that in the age of the fairness doctrine and equal time, not to mention incessant blathering about "campaign reform," one company has come to have such a stranglehold on the Wayne county electoral process. It has, for instance, long been illegal for the broadcast media -- radio and television stations -- to discriminate among candidates for any particular office. It is standard operating procedure for newspaper, magazine, billboard and lawnsign companies to be scrupulously even-handed in dealing with political candidates. Yet, by having veto-power control over the critical direct mail advertising medium at this vital step in the election process, one person has, thereby, come to have effectively gained near dictatorial control over all of Wayne county elected officialdom. Now, Libertarians are strong proponents of the free market system. And there is a company based in Washington DC that is laboriously compiling a voter database of the whole country. Though they still have a long way to go, with the phenomenon of the exploding Information Age and the burgeoning Internet and World Wide Web, the whole process could easily be accelerated to the speed of light. Nevertheless, amidst all the hype and hyperbole surrounding various campaign reform proposals, voters should not lose sight of the fact that, ultimately, so long as there is political power to grab, there will always be power brokers who will always find ways to build political fiefdoms. In this era of political correctness the smoke itself may be gone, but make no mistake about it, the metaphorical "smoke-filled room" is alive and well.
Hello Libertarian Candidates, Here is your opportunity to woo voters in the ease and comfort of the Libertarian Party of Washtenaw County's famous (infamous?) "Art Fair" booth. Yes, you too can join the hundreds of Libertarians in Michigan who can proudly say they've helped the Ann Arbor group by staffing our information booth at yet another Washtenaw County public spectacle (Hash Bash? Art Fair? What else is there....) It's the 1998 YPSILANTI HERITAGE FESTIVAL (a winner of the Governor's Embassy of Tourism Award--I'm not making that up), which takes place August 21-23. With over 300,000 visitors to the festival from all over SE Michigan, there will be plenty of hands to shake, babies to kiss and potential voters to canvass. It's a lot of fun and a good way to meet the public. Booth hours are: Friday (8/21) noon-8 pm Saturday (8/22) 10am - 8 pm and Sunday (8/23) 10 am - 6 pm. Shifts are 2.5 hours long (10-12:30, 12:30-3, 3-5:30, 5:30-8) We need 2 people per shift. This is actually a pretty neat festival. There's a colonial living-history encampment, an historic homes tour, a lumberjack competition, a 5 K run on Sunday morning, and tons of great music (live jazz, blues, country and gospel). It's held at Ypsi's Riverside Park where there's plenty of parking. If you would like to be part of this most happenin' event, contact me (Emily Salvette) via E-mail at salvette@aol.com or by phone at 734-997-2195. Please tell which day/time you want to work, and a contact phone number. Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic response!!! (if there is no enthusiastic response, remember, I've spent the last 9 months in GERMANY! We have ways......) -Emily PS: If you're not a candidate, please don't feel left out. You too can volunteer! Please contact me today!!!!!
My name is Michael Corliss, and I am running for Representative in the 18th District. I originally decided to run a low-profile campaign, mostly so that disgruntled voters in this district could see that there was at least one alternative to the Republicans and Democrats. As the election approaches, however, I find myself committing to more and more involvement, effort, and personal expense, and loving every bit of it. I am beginning to feel as though I have a mission, to raise public awareness about the Libertarian alternative. There is a genuine choice, and it is available to all Americans who are fed up with governmental interference in people's lives, property, and personal decision-making. Libertarians do not spout free markets and low taxes one moment, then enact crushing new regulations and tax increases the next. (Can you say ADA, and 5 trillion dollar debt?) They do not spout personal freedom and choice one moment, and then pass hate-speech regulation, minimum-wage laws, and mandatory participation in Ponzi schemes the next. The Republicans and Democrats cooperate on all of these, and thousands of other attacks on our liberty. I have heard people say, "I can't waste my vote on someone who can't win." My answer is, "This isn't a horse race. You don't get money for picking a winner." There is virtually no chance your vote for a one of the older party candidates will ever be noticed. But if you vote Libertarian, you will be letting those older party candidates know that there are a lot of angry people out there, and they will have to start paying attention. Pollsters know that every vote for a third party candidate represents dozens, if not hundreds, of other people who feel the same way but just didn't pull the lever, for whatever reason. So, don't waste your vote! Vote Libertarian! |
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