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    Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans: How to Elect an Independent President, and Why We Need One
    Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans: How to Elect an Independent President, and Why We Need One
    Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans: How to Elect an Independent President, and Why We Need One
    Ebook142 pages1 hour

    Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans: How to Elect an Independent President, and Why We Need One

    By David Blatte

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    About this ebook

    Washington is broken, and no one knows how to fix it - until now! Every traditional solution – from campaign finance reform to restrictions on lobbying – requires action by Congress. But Congress won't solve the problem. Congress is the problem! Asking Washington to fix itself is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. It won't, for one immutable reason. It's against the interests of the Democrats and Republicans in Washington to fix Washington.

    The solution has to come from outside, and it's found in the American people and that most sacred of places – the voting booth. To fix Washington, we have to stop electing Democrats and Republicans. Only an Independent president can bring the two major parties together to start working on America's problems and stop placing party above country. Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans is a rallying cry and a roadmap for the American people. We cannot leave change up to the politicians in Washington. It's up to us.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDavid Blatte
    Release dateSep 13, 2016
    ISBN9781370431892
    Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans: How to Elect an Independent President, and Why We Need One

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      Book preview

      Saving America from the Democrats and Republicans - David Blatte

      Saving America from the

      Democrats and Republicans

      How to Elect an

      Independent President,

      and Why We Need One

      David Blatte

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Part One : The History

      Chapter 1: THE COMMON GOOD

      Chapter 2: HISTORY OF THE MAJORS

      Chapter 3: THE INDEPENDENTS

      Part Two : The Problem

      Chapter 4: ELECTORAL POLITICS

      Chapter 5: BALLOT ACCESS AND VOTING RIGHTS

      Chapter 6: THE MONEY

      Part Two : The Solution

      Chapter 7: AN INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE

      Chapter 8: HOW TO ELECT AN INDEPENDENT PRESIDENT

      Bibliography

      About the author

      Introduction

      For the past 156 years, the Democrats and Republicans have controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency. During that time America rose to become one of two great superpowers and then the lone superpower on the planet – the strongest economic and military country the world has ever known.

      We can debate whether America's rise has been because of, or in spite of, the two-party system. But one thing is undeniable. Right now, the two major parties – the Democrats and Republicans – are failing us. At the precise time when we need them most, the gridlock in Washington is threatening to destroy all that past generations have sacrificed for and built. And with the two most polarizing and unpopular presidential candidates in history, there's no end in sight.

      This is not news, of course. There's no shortage of ideas from pundits, scholars and politicians that acknowledge this reality. And many of their fixes, if enacted, could actually work. But this collective conventional wisdom completely misses the point. The model on which it is based relies on a fallacious premise, one that overlooks the central paradox of our time. Every traditional solution – from campaign finance reform to restrictions on lobbying – requires action by Congress. But Congress won't solve the problem. Congress is the problem! Asking Washington to fix itself is like asking the fox to guard the hen house. Washington is in a Catch-22. Only the politicians in Washington can fix our broken government. But they won't, for one immutable reason. It's against the interests of the Democrats and Republicans in Washington to fix Washington.

      Given this reality, to find an answer that actually works, we can't operate within the existing political structure. We have to challenge that framework and fundamentally alter it. Change could happen in a number of ways, but most of them aren't good. An economic collapse or a complete political meltdown might shift the dynamic, but at an extremely high cost. There is one solution – the only solution – that is simple in concept, even if challenging to implement. It looks to the American people and takes place in that most sacred of places – the voting booth. To fix Washington, we have to stop electing Democrats and Republicans.

      This book offers one path to break the two-party stranglehold on power, and it starts at the top – electing an Independent president. This is not the final goal of opening up Congress to Independent senators and congresspeople, and there may be other ways to get there. But given the structural realities of our current political system, the most realistic avenue for change begins at the presidential level. It is only with a truly reform-minded executive that the entire system can be overhauled, resulting in a multi-party Congress that truly represents the ideological diversity of our country. The only way to fix Washington is to elect an Independent (unaffiliated or third party) president.

      For this Independent transformation to take place, we have to first see how we arrived at our current state of dysfunction. In Part One of this book – The History – we see that the founders detested political parties, viewing them as a threat to democracy. Despite this antipathy, a two-party system came to pass, eventually leading to the Democrats and Republicans controlling the corridors of power uninterruptedly for over 150 years. But third parties, despite their limited power, have played a crucial role in our political development, responsible for many of our historic reforms and innovations, such as child labor laws and the direct election of senators. The overview of these colorful parties and their impact on the nation is both entertaining and instructive.

      In Part Two – The Problem – we identify three areas that lie at the root of the corruption. Ironically, it was the founders who, despite their best intentions, inadvertently laid the seeds for the two-party system, an inevitability explained by a principle known as Duverger's law. The majors have taken advantage of the situation, creating an electoral system that gives every advantage to themselves at the expense of all challengers. Central to their scheme are restrictions on ballot access and voting rights, enabling them to create a rigged system that favors those in power over those seeking to replace them. This includes the ingenious yet ingenuous spoiler myth, intended to pressure voters to choose between the lesser of two evils rather than their preferred candidate. Perhaps the most important factor in their continued political ascendancy is money, allowing them to take advantage of the power of incumbency to stack the deck even more in their favor.

      Having defined the problem, Part Three – The Solution – provides the solution. After looking at the prospect of transforming the system by electing Independents at the state, local and congressional level, the focus is directed towards electing an Independent president. Mobilizing the grass-roots movement that arose in the course of the recent primary season, this approach calls for Independents and third parties to unite and form an Independent Coalition, combining their resources to defeat a common political enemy – the Democratic and Republican duopoly. This coalition would implement an Independent primary that duplicates and rivals the major party primaries to nominate an Independent presidential candidate who has been vetted, battle-tested, and who has the financial and political resources necessary to take on the Democratic and Republican candidates in the general election.

      It is only with the election of an Independent president that the country can hope to move forward and end the gridlock that has left Washington impotent to address the pressing crises of our time. With a nonpartisan leader, the two major parties will have no excuse not to pass legislation, since the victory would belong not to the other party's president but to the government and country as a whole. Credit can be shared equally between the parties, creating a win-win situation rather than the current no-win scenario. An Independent president will also pursue structural changes, putting pressure on Congress to pass reforms that enable Independents to compete for senate and congressional seats. This would lead to new and innovative solutions to our collective problems, since on a host of issues, from health care to foreign policy to the economy, the dialog would no longer occur within a narrowly defined range. Instead, the two major parties would be forced by the new diversity in Congress to think outside the box and consider possibilities that would otherwise never see the light of day.

      The enthusiasm, motivation and even the beginnings of this organization are already in place, building on the successes of the outsider campaigns of 2016. With the right leadership, the Independent Coalition can be ready as soon as 2020 to challenge the status quo. But whatever shape an Independent movement ultimately takes, in the final analysis, voting Independent – whether for president, Congress or at the state and local level – is the only solution for ending the dysfunction in Washington. Everyone acknowledges the problem, knows that it won't fix itself, yet keeps waiting for the politicians to suddenly act against their own interests. It won't happen. Change is not up to them. It's up to us.

      Part One

      The History

      Chapter 1

      THE COMMON GOOD

      There is nothing I dread so much as the division of the Republic into two great parties, each under its leader…This, in my humble opinion, is to be feared as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.

      John Adamsi

      Hip, Hip, Hooray!

      Washington, whose legendary stolidity was the glue that held the Continental Congress together, was growing impatient. His friends Jefferson and Hamilton persisted in their incessant squabbling, oblivious to his wearied pleas for an end to their bickering. Rather than pick up the argument with their usual enthusiasm and ardor, either debating as a collective body or breaking up into small groups, the delegation looked on listlessly. They were exhausted. It had been months in the oppressive Philadelphia summer, locked away in a tiny building, the windows tightly shut for secrecy. The nonstop negotiation, battling and compromising had left them both unsatisfied and relieved at the same time. Even the father figure himself, miraculously managing to stand above the fray, was beginning to show cracks from the strain.

      But victory was close at hand. The next day, September 17, 1787, they would emerge from Constitution Hall weary but elated, the fruits of their labor waving triumphantly in their hands. This group of 55 men – the Founding Fathers – would manage in just four short pages to give birth to a democracy that would endure for over 200 years and become the greatest power in the world. Their foresight was remarkable and their legacy, the United States Constitution, earth shattering.

      No Partying Allowed

      The Democrats and Republicans have been in power a long time. Over 150 years. So long that it almost seems natural, inevitable, as if it's their birthright. But it's not. In fact, just the opposite.

      If you've ever read the Constitution, you may have noticed the absence of an

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