There is a pandemic of incompetent, corrupt, and bizarre politicians who are being elected to significant offices.
Rep. George Santos, a Republican from Long Island, has been shown to be a compulsive liar and all-around weirdo. Bill DeBlasio, former mayor of New York City, quickly proved himself to be corrupt and incompetent. He was, however, re-elected. Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, who has destructive views about releasing hardened criminals from jail, suffered a debilitating stroke but was elected to the U.S. Senate. As of this writing, he is back in the hospital suffering from depression. California’s Adam Schiff who blatantly lied to the nation about alleged evidence of “Russian Collusion,” tearing the nation apart, now is seeking a Senate seat and stands a substantial chance of winning a Democrat primary for that position. That same state’s Rep. Eric Swalwell had a relationship with a Chinese spy, but complained when he was removed from the House Intelligence Committee.
This list, comprising members of both parties, could go on and on.
Consider the case of the former Mayor of Washington, D.C., the late Marion Barry. He was videotaped during a sting operation smoking crack cocaine and was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on drug charges. He served six months in a federal prison. After his release, he was elected to the Council of the District of Columbia in 1992. He was elected again as mayor in 1994, serving from 1995 to 1999.
Perhaps the question is no longer Republican vs. Democrat or even conservative vs. leftist, but of honest, mentally sound individuals vs. irrational or dishonest beings.
Why does the public vote for oddballs, dishonest and logic-challenged individuals? There is at least one interesting theory.
A 2020 study by Pew Research noted that a large share of voters planned to vote a straight party ticket for president, Senate and House. Just 4% of registered voters support Trump or Biden and a Senate candidate from the opposing party. “It found that ‘In an era of increasing partisanship, split-ticket voting continues to be rare in U.S. politics. With control of the Senate at stake on Nov. 3, just 4% of registered voters in states with a Senate contest say they will support Donald Trump or Joe Biden and a Senate candidate from the opposing party. In voting for both the House and Senate, partisanship prevails. About eight-in-ten of voters (78%) say they will vote (or already have voted) for either Biden and the Democratic House of Representatives candidate (43% of all voters) or Trump and the Republican candidate (35% of all voters) in their congressional district.’”
The message is clear. Too many voters don’t particularly research or care about the individual candidate, but vote for whomever happens to be on the party line that they identify with. That allows individuals with diminished capacity, strange views, even criminal records, to win office.
Some individuals mistakenly believe they are compelled to vote for the party they are enrolled in, a clearly erroneous concept. Others may feel such deep distrust, even hatred, for the “other” party that they will vote for whomever runs against them. This may well have been the case in the 2020 presidential election.
Former President Barack Obama famously stated that “elections have consequences.” Voting for a candidate based on party registration, regardless of their personal capabilities, can produce a government filled with individuals whose only “qualification” is membership in a political party. It also leads to elected officials whose first loyalty is to their political party, not to their constituents.
President George Washington disdained the division of the nation into quarrelling political sides, and warned against their growing influence. The discredited concept of voting for the party, not the candidate, is the fulfillment of his concern.
Illustration: Pixabay