It's time to register to vote -- and that presents me with an unexpected dilemma.
It's no secret that I'm a fairly solid conservative, and nothing about living in New York for the past two months has done anything to change that. Nevertheless, I've received the strong suggestion from several sources recently that I consider registering as a Democrat.
The rationale is that New York City doesn't have much of a Republican Party to speak of. Of the 51 members of the City Council, only three are Republicans. Of those three, two represent Staten Island -- the small, residential, middle-class "forgotten borough" -- and the third was indicted last week on rape charges.
That means that the elections that matter are the Democratic primaries, which often feature mostly reasonable candidates running against demagogues and crazies for the right to rout whoever the Republicans put up in the general election. (Nothing, of course, would necessarily prevent me from voting for that Republican anyway.) Fr. Richard John Neuhaus of First Things fame, for instance, is a Democrat for precisely this reason.
I haven't made any decision yet -- I'd have to weigh this against my desire to vote in the Republican presidential primary, among other things. But go ahead, let the jokes begin.
That said, for anyone who's curious, I figured out all my elected representatives this morning.
U.S. Congress: Democrat Carolyn Maloney, 14th district
N.Y. State Senate: Democrat George Onorato, 12th district
N.Y. State Assembly: Democrat Michael N. Gianaris, 36th district
New York City Council: Democrat Peter F. Vallone, Jr., 22th district
Sigh.
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7 comments:
That is definitely a tough call. It seems like you have to weigh wielding some modicum of influence over elections (Dem. primaries) versus the negative impression some might have of you because they aren't privy to your rationale.
One train of thought I had: the reason you are considering not registering as a NY Republican is precisely because your vote would matter too little. Will your vote's efficacy really be that much greater as a NY Dem? Will things really change if you get involved in Dem primaries? Probably not.
Some might say my pessimism extended to its logical conclusion would lead to no one voting, but this is not true. Voting shouldn't be something we do just because our individual vote matters--often times it doesn't. Instead we should vote because it is our civic duty and responsibility as Americans. Voting to gain efficiency seems to abandon the true purpose of voting.
The only way for conservatives to really keep the Dem. crazies out would be for many people to follow Neuhaus's example. Why not be part of the people fighting for some party balance and competition?
My vote is that you register to vote as a NY Republican.
Come on John, what about blazing a trail where non exists? Here's your opportunity. Register Republican! g/g
You'll be pleased to know, Adam, that Prof. Pitney basically agrees with you, making the point that if we all did a cost-benefit analysis of the act of voting, we'd all just stay home, the possibility of changing the outcome being so astronomical. We vote, rather, out of a sense of civic duty, a desire to make our statement, etc.
This is all well and good, and quite possibly persuasive. But I find this issue fairly fascinating, so let's keep going for a moment.
True, one vote won't affect an outcome, but the responsibility of voting as a civic duty ultimately rests on the fact that votes, unlike opinion polls, actually determine something. Wouldn't it then be contrary to the civic spirit of the act to be totally indifferent to the actual effect the vote -- and the method of that vote -- has?
But even if I were to conceed that my vote doesn't matter, and I was only voting in order to be, in some lofty sense, a full participant in my civic community... wouldn't I still then want to insert myself into the meaningful choices my particular community faces as I find them?
To be more to the point: shouldn't I want, as an active citizen, to be able to declare with my vote, (hypothetically) "Aldolfo Carrion is an honorable and reasonable public servant, and Charles Barron is not"?
John,
You are presented with a difficult choice here, but the answer seems quite clear - register Republican. Despite the weakness of the NY GOP, you must show support and help change the political climate in NY (though there is remote possibility that it ever will).
Seeing as everyone so far has pushed in the republican direction, I thought I'd chime in on the other side.
I think your arguments about the purpose of voting being that it has an effect(even if a minute one) and being involved in the civic community that exists rather than holding to a party on principle are quite effectual.
I think this is especially true in light of the mechanics of voting. mathematicians can give a fairly extensive explanation of how our system of voting is systematically quite broken when it comes to the goal of choosing the person preferred by the most people for the job. There are problems that run far deeper than lack of party balance. (I personally think the true moralist stance would be to vote for independent and minor party representatives.)
By choosing to vote at all, you are implicitly acknowledging that though the system is flawed, it is better to participate in those avenues of civic involvement available to us rather than to hold out for a non-existent ideal situation. I think the choice of party registration may be quite parallel. (Though I'll hold back on actually giving a recommendation one way or the other since I'm hardly familiar enough with NY politics to make my opinion meaningful.)
As someone who lives in Pittsburgh (Democratic registration is 5-1 in the city) and who grew up in West Virginia I can sympathize greatly. The points you made are exactly why my grandfather has never switched his registration.
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