OH: Political Freedom of Choice Promises the Possibility of Freedom From Democratic-Republican Party Government

This year, voters in Ohio may be surprised by the choices afforded them on their primary and general election ballots, as six parties have qualified for ballot access this November. Back in January, John Michael Spinelli reported on the state's new ballot access regime at the Examiner, writing:

The Republican and Democratic Parties in Ohio will no longer have a lock on access to the ballot now that state election officials, making good on a court decision in the fall of 2006 that found the laws for political party formation and ballot access were unconstitutional, have enabled candidates running under the party name of Libertarian, Green, Socialist and Constitutional to join in the fun that is our representative system of government.

The good news for these outsider parties came in a state directive to all 88 county Boards of Election (BOE) that given that the General Assembly has not yet enacted a new ballot access statute following the September 6, 2006 court decision, and given the high likelihood of success on the merits of any new lawsuit to obtain ballot access, they are "hereby instructed to continue to recognize these political parties and to grant candidates of these political parties ballot access in the 2010 election cycle."

There are now four declared candidates for governor, including Green Dennis Spisak and Libertarian Ken Matesz. The most crowded race at this point appears to be the US Senate contest to replace Republican George Voinovich, who is retiring this year. Aside from the stooges of the Democratic-Republican political establishment, voters will choose from a wide array of candidates, including Eric Deaton of the Constitution Party, Socialist Party candidate Dan Labotz, and five independent candidates for the office, among them Stephen Lahanas, whose articles I have excerpted here at Poli-Tea before. (See Politics1 - Ohio, for a complete listing.)

Needless to say, many Ohioans are quite pleased that an unconstitutional law, once supported by the ruling Democratic-Republican political establishment, will no longer force them to choose between the lesser and greater of the two admitted evils that constitute the Democratic-Republican two-party state. At Veterans Today, Robert Hanafin profiles the Green, Libertarian, Constitution and Socialist Parties of the Buckeye State, in an article that asks: "Is the two-party system doomed?" Hanafin writes in part:

Since neither established political party has been able (or willing) to get us out of Iraq or Afghanistan except for lip service, promises, and more deceit, I’ve dreamed of the demise of two party political control over the American political system, because I see that having a multi-party system would be preferable to the one party dominance that the two party system represents.

For example here in Ohio, at least until NOW, the only way a third party or independent minded candidate (one not blessed by the Ohio state Democratic or Republican party apparatus) could get on the ballot was by running as lets say a Libertarian/Republican or Green or Socialist running as a Democrat. Now finally a slew of independent candidates from Tea Baggers to Socialist have gotten enough signatures to break dual party hold over the ballot box . . .

In Ohio for the longest or first time that I can remember, now that I’ve lost interest in supporting any of the two party candidates, because I can tell little difference between them, I’m thrilled to see the emergence of more than two parties making it on the ballot. My wife and I have not decided yet which party or candidate to support (well really candidate) but it will not be a Democrat or Republican nor some yahoo running as a Dem or Repub claiming to be an independent. We now have from the Independent, Socialist, Constitutional, Libertarian, Green, Democrat, and Republican parties to choose from . . .

Suffice it to say, at least from Ohio, I feel a warm and fuzzy that not only do I now have freedom of political choice, I’m finally seeing more than one flavor to register as. I for one plan on registering either as an Independent or Socialist. Socialist some of my former conservative friends would say, how could a retired military officer even think that way.

When all is said and done I am not arrogant enough to tell anyone how to VOTE, but only to ask our readers to VOTE SMART regardless if you endorse or worship the status quo of the two party system or are a anti-incumbent like me.

Political freedom and independence today begins with freedom and independence from the Democratic and Republican Parties. Vote third party and independent.