My thinking is that is why we need a coalition building type political system. But we don’t. So there is no incentive for the two to join forces. If this ends up putting Korbach back in office, Kansas is doomed. The Democrats desperately need more governorships. And women. It is very depressing.
1 Like
Then you know who Sam Brownback is and he got elected. That tells me the votes are there to put Kobach in as well and that those votes are not as susceptible to draw down by this Orman spoiler as those of the Democrat.
Orman is running as a spoiler. If he was sincere he’d be able to come with something better than the hackneyed 2 party bitch. Why is a 3 party scenario any better than a 2 or a 5? His purpose is to put Kobach in office but he damn sure can’t say that. He knows he can’t win so that’s not the reason he’s running. Given who he is he stands to benefit far more from a Kobach governorship than that of any Democrat. All the man is doing is looking out for himself and his money.
3 Likes
Incredibly stupid idea.
2 Likes
Because it’s not a platform. It’s a rationale to cover the real reason for running: soiling the election. Look who Stein was hanging out with before she pulled her stunt. You see and Clintonites in those Moscow pics? Nope but Flynn was there. The “failed two party system” canard has been around for a long time. The ONLY thing the folks claiming to be running on fixing it have done is bring out the worst in it. They are all spoilers. That’s their purpose. In the case or Orman it’s not hard to see through it. The Democrat has a shot in the race and big biz guys like Orman do better under GOP’ers. So he runs in a tight race knowing he can’t win the election but can win the outcome.
1 Like
Orman is rich and self-absorbed. He is probably financing himself. The Koch brothers are spending millions air bombing Kelly with absolute bullshit.
1 Like
I could be wrong, but I suspect Orman might ultimately hurt Kobach more than he hurts Laura Kelly. No one who was going to vote for Kobach would vote for Kelly, but some of them might be offended by, or wary of, Kobach’s closeness to both Trump and Brownback. Such people may look at Orman as a way to express their dissatisfaction with the GOP without having to vote for a Democrat.
1 Like
Ranked choice voting is a much easier lift.
5 Likes
Only in the Land of the People Too Pure to Vote for an Imperfect Dem. In the real world, they’re not “too beholden.” Or have the Kochs, Adelson, Friess, and the rest of the oligarchs decided that they’re going to go Dem-All-The-Way, and I missed it?
Nader tried that same “both parties are the same” bullshit in 2000. How’d that work out for the country?
1 Like
I wouldn’t call both parties “the same”; I would say that we suffer from the evil of two lessers. Given that, I’m all for people voting as their conscience dictates, particularly if they find a third option appealing. If it hurts either of the maintainers of the status quo, then perhaps they might be motivated to get off their complacent ass(es), cut the corporate umbilical and start actually responding to vox populi. Until that happens, the Independents can only continue to grow in number.
1 Like
We did the same thing in Texas. The most egregious assholes still got the nomination, with Rick Perry vs. Kay Bailey Hutchinson as just one example.
1 Like
Okay, I’ll bite - how is that so much worse than what we have now?
I say this as someone who has lived in two Parliamentary democracies (Australia and Canada), as well as the U.S. and although I do see issues with the parliamentary system, I don’t see the fundamental flaws that have been exposed in the American system over my lifetime (ref: Electoral College, vastly disproportionate representation for rural Americans in the Senate, lack of any incentives for coalition building, lack of consistent voting standards and incipient support for racist/misogynist/oligarchic structures).
Although it’s fair to worry about long term stability, there’s also something to be said for the power to declare that the government has lost the confidence of the governed so a new election needs to be called.
So, as we all contemplate how we’re going to clean these Augean Stables once Toadstool and his cronies are gone, I’d like to hear the objections to thinking a bit farther outside the box than minor reforms to the electoral college process or a bit of gerrymandering reform…
1 Like
I wasn’t recommending it. But a Parliamentary system is how you get representation from multiple parties. Insults are really not necessary.
2 Likes
You are the literal embodiment of the “Thinly Veiled Metaphor About Voting” cartoon.
1 Like
Argumentum ad hominem, false analogy, reducto ad absurdum. You hit the trifecta!
Thanks for playing.
I don’t blame these Ralph Nader types nearly as much as I blame the ones who vote for them. Its no great secret what is at stake in these types of elections. It was/is obvious that Nader (and Orman as well) had/have no hope of winning; all they could/can do is swing the election to the republican. The only conclusion I can draw is that was/is their voter’s intent all along. By doing it this way, they can avoid responsibility for the result of their vote, i.e., they can pretend that the result was not their doing. Nader has been arguing that for nearly twenty years. He’s not very convincing.
1 Like
Given my cynical nature and coupled with the number of states where Republicans have been actively involved in pushing independent candidates as a means to split the vote and possibly hold on to power (see VA and MT) I might be tempted to suggest that Mr. Orman got paid off by some dark money source. As Lily Tomlin observed: No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough to keep up.
1 Like