RSSOn Newt And Virginia
J.J. Jackson | December 27, 2011
So Newt Gingrich will be shut out of the Virginia Primary because he failed to get enough signatures, as required by law, to appear on the ballot. This just goes to show you that slow and steady does not always win the race since a large, fast moving campaign organization is needed to deal with the sundry laws for ballot access in each of the fifty states.
Of course I have made my views on Newt perfectly clear. Despite him touting his “90% rating” as a conservative, the man is no conservative. Ok, so he has fooled some people into believing such. But that is not prima facie evidence of his true ideology. It certainly would be no skin off my nose if this man failed to win the nomination. Although when you compare him to Romney and Paul he is far more in line with conservative and libertarian ideology than either of these two. Although that might not be saying much.
In a further blow, apparently, Virginia election law does not allow write-ins for primary elections meaning that Newt’s supporters will not be able to take that tactic to overcome this hurdle placed in his way. While I support the right of every state to make their own election law, I do think however that this is a bad bit of election law.
Virginia would, in effect, disenfranchise the vote of anyone who wants to vote for Newt, does in fact for him by writing in his name and then not counting that vote. Yes, I understand that write-in votes are problematic. They have to be counted by hand and misspellings have always had a way of going uncounted even when the intent is crystal clear. But isn’t it in the best interest of the people of Virginia, or any state, to have their votes properly counted?
This problem with Newt in Virginia is a prime reason why elections for President are so expensive. Candidates are required to have staff and offices up and running in all fifty states in order to get their names on ballots. And if you do not have the money to accomplish this task? Well, then you can campaign all you want in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and even potentially win there too as a candidate, but if you did not put staff on the ground and dilute your message to make sure you have your name on the ballots in other states like Virginia it can all be for naught. Even if the people decide that they want said candidate.
Again, yes, handling write-ins is arduous. But if there is one thing that each individual state should be doing other than pushing back against intrusion upon their tenth amendment rights from Washington, it is to ensure that elections reflect the will of the people in said state. The problem is that states have siphoned down their own coffers and become mini Washington DC’s, issuing checks to all sorts of pet causes that they no longer have the money to do what is right for their own people either.
Copyright © 2006-2011
J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner for Examiner.com. He is also the owner of The Right Things - Conservative T-shirts & Gifts. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at LibertyReborn.com (Digital Fingerprint: libertyreborn123456789)
Contributor's website: http://www.libertyreborn.com
Content posted by users from other sites is posted for commentary and news purposes under fair use and each author is responsible for their own postings and a particular posting should not be construed as being endorsed by this site or its owner.
Leave a Reply
Loading ...Recommended Reading:
