Election Q&A with Jerry

I thought it might be a fun blog post to ask my in-house political expert a few questions about the election. In case you didn't know, Jerry is very into politics (when we lived in Wisconsin he wrote a political blog). He reads and researches and doesn't let emotions get in the way. (I think he's part Vulcan!)

Q: Are you upset by the election results? Why or why not? 

No. The result was not at all surprising at the presidential level. Gains by Democrats in the Senate were more surprising (especially in places like ND and MT).

Q: You have said repeatedly that if someone went into a coma this year and woke up in 2015 they wouldn't be able to tell if a Democrat or Republican was president. Are they really that much alike? 

Yes, but no one believes me when I say this. If you watched the debates you may have come away thinking there are sharp differences between the two major parties. This is impression is due entirely to the way the debates are formatted and presented. Consider the fact that it was a GOP Congress and President George W. Bush (gasp!) who expanded Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit. And who, exactly, do you think gave us TARP and the auto industry bailout? (Hint: NOT President Obama.)

Q: Did third party voters lose the election for Romney? 

No, this simply wasn't a factor. Even in the most famous example of this in recent history (1992) Perot did not cost GHW Bush the election.

 Q: Is a vote for a third party candidate a wasted vote?

At the level of the individual every vote is a waste. When millions of votes are cast no single vote matters, third party or otherwise. An individual may be wasting their time voting but they are not wasting their vote by casting a ballot for the Left Handed Vegans with ADHD Party. ("But what if everyone thought that way, then no one would vote" you object. Allow me to retort: They don't, so it doesn't matter.)

Q: What can/should Christians do (politically speaking) to help this country? 

Pray. Generally be subject to the authority of our government (1 Peter). Be informed on policies AND personalities. This is harder than it sounds. You have to seek out this information. It does not come in 20 second soundbites on any cable news channel. You may "know" Obama was born in Kenya, but do you know who the Secretary of State is or anything about US policy in Africa?

Q: Is there too much money in politics? 

No. The antidote to money in politics is informed citizens. It is not new/more/better rules about money in politics. I'm for unlimited personal spending on political campaigns combined with full disclosure of donations.

Q: Is our country too polarized/partisan?

No. See above on differences between the parties. We need a greater diversity of ideas among (and within) the major parties AND we need to articulate those differences in a way that is respectful. Simply put, we need polite partisans.

Q: If you believe we need a smaller federal government does that mean you hate Big Bird/the interstate highway system/victims of super storm Sandy?

No. The federal government does too many things and too many of them not well enough. Even if we ultimately disagree, we should be able to have a discussion about what are the appropriate roles of the federal government, state and local governments, and individuals. We should be guided by the principle of assigning roles to the lowest level of authority that makes sense (for example, the city shouldn't be in charge of interstate highways and the FBI shouldn't do animal control). The fancy name for this is subsidiarity, but it's really just common sense. There is no credible spokesman for this approach on the national stage today.

If you have a question for Jer, leave it in the comments!!