The Mid-Term Referendum

Consider this (partial, inevitably) list of current political issues, in alphabetical order.

• Abortion.

• COVID-19.

• Crime and public safety.

• Cybersecurity.

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion.

• Domestic infrastructure.

• Economic competitiveness.

• Education.

• ESG and corporate responsibility.

• Foreign interference in domestic politics.

• Free speech rights.

• Global security.

• Global warming.

• Government corruption.

• Government power.

• Government spending, deficits and national debt.

• Gun rights and control.

• Health care.

• Immigration and the southern border.

• Inflation.

• Jobs.

• Mental health.

• Misinformation and disinformation.

• National defense.

• National security.

• Pollution and the environment.

• Poverty and hunger.

• Racism, sexism, and discrimination.

• Regulation.

• Religious liberty.

• Taxation.

• Terrorism.

• The economy.

• The Supreme Court.

• Trade and protectionism.

• Transgender rights and acceptance.

• Voting access and election integrity.

This election is more consequential than most mid-terms. There is such a stark contrast between the direction the current leadership is pushing/pulling us and what the public response to that push/pull has been now that it is truly a referendum on the direction of the nation. Politically, culturally, economically, and as to the form of governance itself.

If you think the current people in power got it right on most of these issues, then you should vote to perpetuate their majorities.

If you think they haven't done right by your principles, desires, and outlook on most of these issues, then you should vote to "throw the bums out."

Party affiliations aside.

The only way your vote matters to politicians is if it is in play. If you are a rock-solid, sure-as-the-sunrise, team voter, never for a moment even considering that you might voice your dissatisfaction with your team's performance by voting against it... You. Don't. Matter.

I'll say it again - if you can be relied on to vote for "your" party, even when it's doing a terrible job, your political voice is no louder than a mime's.

Parties don't change if their past behavior is reinforced. They only change when they are cast into the wilderness and must claw back into power - and even then they rarely change much. There is no "qualification" in your vote. No one will listen to your "I'm giving you another chance - change your ways and walk a better path." Re-election is reinforcement, and the party in power will always look at your affirmative vote in binary fashion.

If you genuinely think the other party will make things worse, by all means, then, vote to keep your people at the helm. Just don't expect your team to change their ways because you’re giving them another chance.

If you can't stomach the thought of voting for the other team, withhold your vote, or vote third party. Both are messages in their own right.

Just, please, don't be disgusted with your current representation while continuing to leave them in charge of your life.

Tomorrow, I am doing something unusual - I’m voting for the Republican candidates on my ballot. Normally, I vote for the Libertarians, in order to send a message to those that look at such things as to which way I want the country to go. This time around, the “both stink, merely in different ways” view isn’t quite right. I don’t expect much of the GOP - it has failed to deliver so many times in the past that something about same thing different results - but the Democrats have truly gone off the rails, and the best way to tell them so is to take away their power. What happens afterward is secondary to making sure they understand how wrong they got things.

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Peter.