Straight Ticket

I’m an old ticket splitter. Goodell, Goldwater, Gus Hall, gone there, done that.
Always been smugly appalled at straight ticket voters, seeing them as ignorant tools of machine politicians. As precinct judge, it fell to me to educate my voters when a LaRouche latah or a transsexual convicted murderer made it on to the primary ballot. And when I swore to support all party nominees, I did so with one hand behind my back, fingers crossed.
Two columnists from the Times dichotomized last week to make me reconsider my long held practice.
David Brooks, in his “Present at the creation of McCain-Lieberman Party” suggests that the moderate majority is fed up with the “Sunni-Shiite style of politics,” and that this third way will be co-opted into the existing parties, perhaps by John McCain and Hillary Clinton re-introducing centrism to party politics.
This took me back to Paul Krugman’s “Centrism is for Suckers.” He writes about the Sierra Club’s endorsement of Sen. Lincoln Chaffee, R-R.I, saying “the only thing that matters for the issues the Sierra Club cares about is the “R” after his name.”
“If the Democrats gain only five rather than six seats this November, Senator James Inhofe, who says that global warming is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people” will remain as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.”
“Now we’re living in an age of one letter politics in which a politicians partisan affiliation is always far more important than his or her personal beliefs. And those who refuse to recognize this reality end up being useful idiots for those, like President Bush, that have been constantly ruthless in their partisanship.” I think he’s got something there. The way the Tories have operated the past ten years, we should kick their asses so far back that they have to caucus with the Whigs.