Some friends have asked how I will be voting on this year’s candidate races, ballot issues, and judges. Here are my preferences, offered in an irenic spirit that recognizes reasonable people can differ.
Candidate Races
On candidates, I always vote the straight Republican ticket. I regard the Republican Party, apart from the church, as the most important institution on earth, all its imperfections notwithstanding. The logic is simple: (1) America is mankind’s best earthly hope. (2) The Declaration of Independence and Constitution are America’s guiding star. (3) The foremost (if sometimes wobbly) defender of those founding documents is the Republican Party; far more so than the Democrats.
So I want as many R’s in public office as possible, and as few D’s as possible. Would I disagree on some things with (for example) a Senator Joe O’Dea or a Secretary of State Pam Anderson—or a second-term President Trump? Probably so. But an R is an R is an R. Let’s get all the Republicans elected and then work on fixing what’s wrong with the party.
Why? Because, in Colorado right now, in the real world, the only alternative to an R is a D. Heroic gestures like writing in a name, voting third party, or not voting at all, are worse than useless. They help the Democrats. It’s binary!
To repeat: Straight Republican ticket. You won’t regret it.
Ballot Issues
I will vote yes on Proposition 121, which cuts income taxes for all. Yes on Amendment D, which improves access to the courts. And yes on Amendment E, which cuts property taxes for survivors of someone who died for our country.
Three worthy acts of citizen lawmaking. Three yes votes… 121… D… and E.
I will vote no on all the other ballot issues. Let’s defeat all these measures that would raise taxes (FF), or grow government (123), or make it harder for citizens to cut taxes (GG), or make alcohol and drugs easier to get (122, 124, 125, 126), or benefit the gambling industry (F).
None of those is a good thing for our state. Join me in voting them down.
Join me also in voting no on all tax increases for local government. Coloradans pay more than enough taxes already. Politicians just need to spend more wisely.
Judges: Why I Vote No
It has long been my custom to vote no on all judges up for retention. Nothing personal; I recognize that many of these are individuals of good character doing a good job for us on the bench.
However, the judicial retention system is broken, with over 99% of judges being retained year after year. How plausible is that in any field of human endeavor?
And in state courts, like the federal courts, our constitution is too often misapplied or ignored. Our no-votes of all judges can help send the judicial branch an urgent message: Do better!
Blessings of Liberty
The Founders wanted to “secure the blessings of liberty” for you and me, ten generations downstream. To say so far so good at this point would be pollyanna. Things aren’t nearly as good as they should be for our beloved land these days.
We all need to step up and do our part more responsibly, as citizens of a free society and trustees of a precious fragile heritage. (I wrote a whole book about that, as it happens.) Wisely exercising our right to vote at this election season is a good start.