Rule of thumb Number 2:
be extremely careful of
3 or more candidate races
Vote for a candidate
who can win
Not one who will
certainly lose

The 2000 Presidential election would have been decided immediately if enough voters followed this Rule of Thumb.

This is a tough subject. For several decades many major elections had 3 or more candidates.

These elections are often confusing which turn people off so they dont vote at all. Many people who do vote get mixed up and vote for someone who most probably cannot win!

Use a hypothetical example involving three candidates. A traditional right of center Republican and a left of center Democratic candidate. Also, a left of center Liberal candidate. Many people really like the Liberal candidate.

Question: Who will win this election?

Answer: Usually, the traditional right of center Republican candidate.

Because the people who vote for the Liberal candidate take away votes from the traditional left of center Democratic Candidate allowing the Republican candidate to win.

Basically, voters should carefully follow the major public opinion polls. (See Rule of Thumb Number 24: Be Wary of the Internet - the Media and the Book Publishing industry.)

If our favorite candidate has no chance of winning, then we should vote for the candidate who is more in agreement with our feelings (our second choice). Otherwise, the candidate we do not like will probably win. As voters, we must be practical. We should not be emotional, or become hung up on principle, or vote solely on one issue.

Many candidates will run as third party candidates where they probably cannot win, but will probably help the person we dont want to win to get elected. This is because our voting for the third party candidate will take away votes from our second choice candidate. (Quite often, a secret deal is made between one of the major political parties and a 3rd party solely to trick us into voting against our real wishes.)

By remaining practical, our second choice has a better chance of winning, our vote will be more effective, and we will have a numerical advantage over other voters. (See Rule of Thumb Number 3 on Voting Entire Ballot.)

Lastly, when we vote for a third party candidate who obviously cannot win according to the major polls and the candidate we do not want to win is elected, He or She usually has a better chance of being reelected the next time and in future elections. So by becoming hung up on principle or emotion, or protesting, we help elect someone who will probably vote against our interests for many years.

In the classic 1968 Presidential election between former Vice President Richard M. Nixon and then Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, 3rd Party candidate Alabamas George Wallace further confused an already confused public. Had one more person in every election precinct in the country voted for Humphrey, he would have won the Presidency.

Recent Development in 3 or more
Candidate Elections

New York Times Columnist Thomas Friedman, a multiple Pulitzer Prize Award winner (one of Journalisms top awards) recommends forming a 3rd political Party to represent the Center or middle view of most Americans. He believes our current 2 major political Party structure cannot fix our Countrys so many problems.

I strongly disagree about forming a 3rd political Party. I believe I am correct about this with all due respect to Thomas Friedman. I also stated in the Introduction we are basically a Middle Class, Middle of the Road Country and we must move forward in that direction.

I do not want to take too much space discussing a 3rd Political Party and interrupt this books flow of Rules of Thumb. However, Ive written a lengthy discussion in a separate Section at the end of part 3 of this book to explain why forming a 3rd Party is wrong. (See Section 3rd Political Parties - Thomas Friedman.)

Rule of thumb Number 3:
vote the
entire ballot in every
election possible

This is by far the easiest way to become a more effective voter. One of many steps in our vote being equal to others. Or, for our vote carrying more weight than other people. We are already in the voting booth - all we have to do is pull more voting levers. It can take less than a minute. See sample ballots on pages 10, 11 and 14.

Traditionally, for example, most of us vote for President more than Senators or Congressman. We vote even less for State Legislators and hardy at all in local elections. This means we are letting other people decide who will win these elections even though we are actually in the voting booth.

There are also four important reasons why we should vote the entire ballot.

Reason One: Because most media and public awareness is about the President and our Federal legislature our Congress very few of us realize that we are a nation of State laws.

Most of our countrys laws are passed by the State Legislature in the State we live in. Quite often, what happens, or does not happen at the State level, forces action at the Federal level Congress or the Federal Court system notably the U. S. Supreme Court.

There are times when the States are ahead of the President and Congress in certain issues depending upon your view, and times when the President and Congress are ahead of the States.

Ignoring State elections when we vote for a President or Congress means we are often helping something happen that is the opposite of what we actually want.

Hypothetical example: if we are liberal and vote for a liberal President and Congress, but do not vote in our State election at the same time and a conservative State Legislature is elected, then, we have a contrary process elected bodies opposed to each other.

If we dont want this to happen, then we are actually voting against ourselves because we only voted for a part of the ballot. But, if we want this to happen, it is okay.

Reason Two: Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings gave State governments more power, while weakening the Federal Government and reducing our right to sue in many instances. Experts believe the Supreme Court will continue to rule in this direction. This is a major change in our system which most of us do not realize.

But today, however, We The People have much less chance of obtaining help from our Federal Government and the Federal and State Courts. Or, stated another way, our Federal vote is now less effective than before.

We must depend more on our State Governments. So we must make sure our State Governments improve. Therefore, it is now more important than ever before to vote in State elections.

Reason Three: This involves the voting process itself. From the beginning of the last century until now it is continuing and will not be corrected in the future unless we do something about it.

For decades, the few people who lead their State Legislatures, the State Legislative Leaders, it does not matter from which political party, have made it difficult for us to vote, at all, or to vote effectively, or fairly.

Some examples of many state laws throughout the country: there was a poll tax. People had to pay to vote. This was mostly against Blacks, also women and poor Whites. Literacy tests with questions such as how many words are there in the U. S. Constitution? If a person did not know the exact number of words in the Constitution they were not allowed to vote. How many of us know the exact number of words in our Constitution?

Soldiers who fought in war for this Country were not allowed to vote on the military bases where they lived. Some people had to wait for more than two years before they were allowed to vote in their state. People who did not own property, etc., were not allowed to vote in certain local elections.

Beginning in the 1960s the U. S. Supreme Court banned many of these laws that discriminated against or blocked people from voting. This was because the States would not correct their anti-voting laws. Congress passed the Federal Voting Rights Act beginning in the 1960s that also eliminated many wrongs and made voting opportunities easier. The 18 year old vote became reality. The Federal Motor Voting Act permits voting registration at motor vehicle departments, etc., making it so much easier to register to vote.

I believe that making the vote available to so many of us has been a key reason why our country has not split apart, even though most of us do not vote. We at least know that we have the choice to vote.

Reason Four: Traditionally, most elected officials on the highest government levels (Federal and State) began their elective careers on the lowest governmental levels such as school board member, village trustee, etc., and then moved up to Town, County and City levels. Every President since 1932 (except President Eisenhower) held a lower elected office. By becoming informed about the candidates (which will be discussed separately) and voting for the best and eliminating the worst, at local levels, we will improve our governmental processes on all levels.


Rule of thumb Number 30:
register in One of the Two major
political parties and vote in
every primary election

Note: In the November elections, you can vote for whoever you want to, no matter what party you belong to. In the Primary elections in some States you must vote for a candidate in the party you belong to. Other States have cross over primary elections where you can vote for whoever you wish, no matter what party you belong to. NOTE: There may be variations of crossover primary elections in some states.

Many people abandoned the major Republican and Democratic parties by registering as Independents. Others register in Conservative and Liberal parties, or other parties. While it certainly their right this is wrong in simple voting reality! It prevents us in most instances from voting in the major partys (Republican and Democratic) primary elections.