Hello again, reader. This blog is my third installment in the “Who Should I Vote for” series. In the first two parts I explained why the party of a person is much, much, more important than the person himself. If you just gasped, please go read the first two parts of this series.

When we left off, I hinted that 3rd party candidates were not a good option.

“But, I don’t like Democrats or Republicans. There ain’t a dimes worth of difference between them. I’m going with fill-in-the-blank”

Yeah, well “Fill-in-the-blank” is not going to win. Not it the real world. Yes, he will tell you he has a shot. The movies will tell you he has a shot. But, when the ballots are counted, in a statewide or national election, he will not have come close. The more local the election, the bigger percentage of the vote he will get, but it will almost never be enough to elect someone to a state or federal house or senate office.

“What about Ron Paul, the US Representative from Texas, or Rand Paul, the US Senator from Kentucky?” They are both Libertarians.”

Sorry, while they are certainly libertarians in their heart, they are both registered Republicans, which is how they ran and won their office. If they had run as Libertarians, they would have been soundly defeated. We are a two party system. Those who play in the third party sandbox, play with the children.

Once again. I’m sorry if that hurt. But, this is the way it works. Third party candidates don’t win; they just take votes away from one collation (Republicans) or the other (Democrats), and maybe get “the wrong side” in.

If you don’t believe me, just ask Al Gore. You remember him, right? Flashback to 2000. He is the Democratic candidate for president. On the other side is George W. Bush. The election came down to which way Florida went. Florida went to Bush.

Last blog, I started a multi part tirade in which I intend to “help” you decide who to vote for in November. My last blog was the first half of my explanation of why who the candidate you vote for is much, much less important, than what party he if from. I would encourage you to read Part 1 to get the full impact.

I left you with a cliffhanger. I said that

“Voting for a candidate that is not of your party can effect even IF a bill, important to you, comes up for a vote.”

 Yes, that is true. It happens in two ways, both of which are dictated by who controls that particular chamber of Congress.

First thing you should know is that at the end of an election, both the House and the Senate count noses to see who rules the roost. If there are more Democrats than Republicans, then each committee will be controlled by the party with the most noses. Why does that matter? Because all bills start in a committee, to see if they are “worthy” of being voted on by the whole chamber.

In the Senate, which currently has more Democrats than Republicans, every single committee has more Democrats than Republicans. In the House, which has more Republicans than Democrats, every single committee is dominated by the Republicans. It is very easy to just let a bill “die in committee”. If a bill is not voted on before a session of Congress ends, that bill dies. It does not just wait until the next session. So, if the chairman of a committee doesn’t like it, maybe it gets put on the bottom of the pile and time runs out. Or the committee votes on it, and majority kills it then and there.

The second way is on the floor of each chamber. Once a bill gets through committee, the elected representatives vote on it, right? Maybe. Sometimes. Usually. Not Always.

Hello readers. It’s been many months since I have last written a blog. But, with Election Day approaching, I felt compelled to put pen to paper, in this electronic way, to try to make a difference. I likely won’t, but I’ll at least feel I tried.

Before I go on, let me say that this particular blog will be as non-partisan as is humanly possible. Not because I don’t want to influence your vote away from the dark side, but because the arguments and case I am about to state genuinely applies to both sides of any issue. So with out further preamble here we go.

The party of a candidate is much more important than the candidate him self.

“What?” you say. “How can that possibly be? I vote for the candidate who most thinks the way I do. I vote for the person, not the party!”

I have heard this many times. This is political naïveté wrapped up in pseudo intellectualism. I’m sorry, if that hurt. But, party affiliation is the most reliable way to tell which way a politician will vote. Here is why.

Democrats and Republicans alike form their collations in advance. That means that as a group they have already determine which side of an issue they fall on. Those who follow on one side of an issue or another will join either the Republicans or the Democrats. They will then, generally speaking (and I will pick apart the “generally” shortly) vote reliably one way or the other on any given issue.

“Huh?” you say “You lost me”

Abortion. Death Penalty. ObamaCare. Gun Control. Fiscal Policy. Immigration. Labor Unions. Welfare. Taxes. Bigger Government. Personal Responsibility. Environment. Minimum Wage. Border Control. Solar & Wind Energy. Oil. Nuclear. On and on and on.

You pick the issue. The Democrats are on one side. The Republicans are on the other. Then each party will vote to keep happy those who side, and vote for with them. So, as a voter it is your responsibility to determine which of these issues you fall on and which are the most important to you.

Some people are single issue candidates. That means that one thing; Abortion, Gun Rights, Lower Taxes is the one thing that drives them. If your “thing” is Second amendment rights and you vote for a Democrat; you are either an idiot or a low information voter. Either way, just stay home on Election Day and play a video game. In the interest of my non-partisanship, if your thing is Labor Unions, you don’t want to vote for a Republican. They will not be voting your way. Again, pick the issue. Pick your side. Pick your party. That guy is your guy. The other guy is not.

“Objection! Your Honor, the blogger is full of hot air and bluster! I know many politicians whose vote has crossed the party and that is why I vote for the person and not the party! Hummph!”