Voting for a Loser
[posted by Callimachus]
Just wondering how many out there have ever done this. And whether any pundit ever calculated it into his reading of a vote result.
In a couple of months I'm likely to vote for a candidate I am sure is not going to win, and I don't want him to win. If I thought he had a chance to win I'd vote for his opponent.
We're talking about the Pennsylvania governor's race. The incumbent, Ed Rendell, is a basic big city political deal-maker, ward-heeler, realist, Pennsylvania moderate Democrat. He's done a good job on most things and hasn't got any big scandal tailing off him. He's good enough for me to keep.
His GOP opponent is Lynn Swann, the former football star. Swann just can't get traction. Whatever Rendell hasn't solved -- like property-tax-based school funding -- Swann hasn't got a better answer for.
But he's run a decent clean campaign with a loser's hand. The idea of the Republican Party out here in deer hounter country getting behind a black candidate appeals to me. And I think he's got a future. So I will vote for him. Good game, thanks for playing, you made democracy stronger and America better.
I've done this before. Dole in 1996 comes to mind. I knew he wouldn't win, I didn't really want Clinton to lose, but I thought he deserved to be honored and applauded for his public service. Clinton didn't need my vote, so I gave it to Dole.
Just wondering how many out there have ever done this. And whether any pundit ever calculated it into his reading of a vote result.
In a couple of months I'm likely to vote for a candidate I am sure is not going to win, and I don't want him to win. If I thought he had a chance to win I'd vote for his opponent.
We're talking about the Pennsylvania governor's race. The incumbent, Ed Rendell, is a basic big city political deal-maker, ward-heeler, realist, Pennsylvania moderate Democrat. He's done a good job on most things and hasn't got any big scandal tailing off him. He's good enough for me to keep.
His GOP opponent is Lynn Swann, the former football star. Swann just can't get traction. Whatever Rendell hasn't solved -- like property-tax-based school funding -- Swann hasn't got a better answer for.
But he's run a decent clean campaign with a loser's hand. The idea of the Republican Party out here in deer hounter country getting behind a black candidate appeals to me. And I think he's got a future. So I will vote for him. Good game, thanks for playing, you made democracy stronger and America better.
I've done this before. Dole in 1996 comes to mind. I knew he wouldn't win, I didn't really want Clinton to lose, but I thought he deserved to be honored and applauded for his public service. Clinton didn't need my vote, so I gave it to Dole.
