Washington is broken, just as intended
http://www.washingtonpost.com/todays_paper/Outlook/2012-04-22/B/1/38.2.3382267873_epaper.html
This ‘free ride’ is the idea that by not voting you can still reap the ‘rewards’ of democracy. The author feels that by the intense negative campaigning the goal is to discourage moderates and independents to vote while energizing the base to vote instead. Thus success rides on who is better at motivating their base and de-motivating everyone else. I freely admit that I have no intention to vote this fall, I can’t see any difference between the presumed GOP candidate and Obama and there isn’t any third-party effort that seems like it is serious about politics and just seems to be a way to stroke egos. As the author says, simply listing the solutions is to realize how unlikely there is to be any solution:
…A disarmament treaty for the campaign finance arms race involving spending caps and contribution limits. A ban on campaign spending by independent groups. A requirement that all broadcasters and cable networks provide free advertising time to all candidates. A requirement that everyone vote or face a fine. Transferring redistricting powers from party leaders to unelected, nonpartisan experts. And that hardy perennial, a third-party movement.
Personally I am against the idea of “vote or face a fine”, I think _fewer_ people need to vote, but those voters need to be engaged and willing to invest “an extraordinary amount of time and energy to inform yourself about the candidates and their positions”. I have talked about my Poll Tax before, so won’t cover that ground again. The rest, though, strikes me as eminently sensible, which naturally means it won’t be implemented.
