I am really loving this top two election style, even though voters didn’t seem as willing to oust the incumbents during this primary. Fifteen candidates on the ballot for senator? It won’t take long until the ballot is as long as the voter’s guide, with over 50 or even 100 candidates for the best offices. I might even try to scrape up the money to run next time (Ryan Ryals, Prefers All Night Party).
Unfortunately for the Democrat and Republican party bosses, the long-term effect on this top two system means that they can no longer handpick their favorite puppets. However, it does make it a lot easier for political operatives to float phony or unelectable candidates.
We first saw a glimpse of this back in 1996, when Ellen Craswell was pushed into the Republican spot opposite Gary Locke for the governor’s race. Mrs. Craswell had strong beliefs that didn’t appeal well to independent voters, and it was strongly suspected that many Democrat voters punched the hole for Mrs. Craswell to give Mr. Locke an easier opponent.
The same tactic was also at work in the Nevada primary this year, in the Senate race between Majority Leader Harry Reid and challenger Sharron Angle. Ms. Angle played up her “Tea Party” roots during the election, and beat two better-financed candidates to advance to the general election against Mr. Reid. The locals I spoke to about it all believe that Mr. Reid’s handlers secretly helped push Ms. Angle to the top spot, so he would have a nuttier candidate to run against.
And that’s the biggest problem for future Tea Party candidates. While they are receiving an excessive amount of exposure in the national media, their net result is to be patsies for the Democrats, by splitting the Republican votes.
Let’s face it; Americans love their entitlements, which makes it very difficult for a party to run on a platform of “we’ll cut all entitlements.” That sounds great if you are a person paying for the entitlements, and collecting none of them. But it doesn’t sound so good if you are on unemployment, disability, worker’s compensation, or Social Security, or if you are a public employee.
Take teachers for example. According to the 2000 Census, there were over six million teachers in the U.S. Not all of them were actually teaching, but they still vote to protect their economic interests. And you can bet that their spouses and close family members will also vote to protect those interests too.
The elderly also vote with extremely high turnout rates, and guess what; they’re protecting their economic interests, too. That’s why even the Tea Party-affiliated candidates have started softening their stances almost immediately after the primary elections.
Back in Nevada, Sharron Angle called for the privatization of Social Security and Medicare in May. Now that the primary is over, Ms. Angle has been running ads calling for a Social Security “lockbox” that won’t be touched (and yes, she uses that word). Sound familiar? That was Al Gore’s catchphrase back in 2000.
Even in our state, Dino Rossi is polling well, but he didn’t collect enough primary votes to convince me that he could win in November. His Tea Party albatross, Clint Didier, is withholding an endorsement until Mr. Rossi signs a pledge to support Mr. Didier’s major platform ideas.
Who knows, he just might sign it to get those votes. I’ve voted for Mr. Rossi in the past, but I just don’t think he can win. Biggest problem? After losing twice for governor, he is still trying to get onto the big stage. It doesn’t seem like he really wants to be a senator; he just wants to be important. To me, he now seems more like an opportunist than someone with a passion to serve others.
Fortunately for the Republicans, the Tea Party is likely doomed to the political dustbin after this recession is over. This type of “cut everything” platform has been tried before, and has failed. Look up Libertarian Party and see whatever happened to them. The current anti-government movement was tailor-made for them, and they completely failed to capitalize. You can bet that the Tea Party will do the same.
