Independents need to be recognized
The growing political force in Americans politics is neither Democratic nor Republican, yet it determines who governs. Unfortunately, its numbers aren’t necessarily reflected in governance. Washington Post columnist David Broder recently noted that independent voters now make up the swing vote in almost every contested election. They are as numerous as self-identified Republicans and are closing the gap on the Democrats, Broder wrote.
Significantly, their numbers are growing.
Yet in many states, including Pennsylvania, these influential voters are shut out of an important aspect of the electoral process -primary elections.
Pennsylvania, in fact, has one of the most closed political systems of any state. With its myriad election rules, the Commonwealth makes it difficult for independent candidates to gain a spot on the ballot never mind actually winning an election.
The result is that party hardliners dominate primaries, often nominating candidates who are more liberal or conservative than the general voting public and leaving independents with a lesser-of-two-evils vote in November.
So, even though independents can decide the outcome of elections, their votes don’t necessarily mean an endorsement of the candidates’ or their parties’ ideologies.
Yet because of closed primaries, candidates can ignore independent voters because what matters most to their political futures is playing to the party’s base to win the nomination. After all, without the nomination, they can’t run in November.
Gerrymandering also waters down the influence of independents because the parties can carve out legislative and congressional niches for themselves and their candidates.
The unfortunate results are state legislatures and Congresses in which the voice of independent voters is diminished. This can be seen in the dearth of moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats in these chambers.
Yet these are the lawmakers who bring the wide swath of opinions held by many Americans – Madison’s famous “factions” in The Federalist No. 10 – to the table. Their absence creates a political and ideological void for hardliners to fill.
Eliminating closed primaries and gerrymandering won’t end the partisanship. However, it will water down its influence so that a wider array of opinions are taken into consideration when enacting legislation and governing.