I talked with a former student a few days ago, covering life, health, politics and other random topics. Worth noting: She and her boyfriend are healthy young adults who caught COVID in March. They are still getting their wind back, still shorter of breath than before. But the snippet of conversation that caught my attention related to voting. She told me that she had discovered you did not have to vote for a democrat or republican. She revealed this information as if it had proved a true stunner.
I’d like to observe that this 25-year-old woman graduated high school with a 4.0 GPA. What happens when schools cut minutes from science, history and civics to add extra minutes to math and English, all to get kids ready for their annual state achievement test? Well, one thing that happens is that 25-year-olds who are at the top of their high school class “discover” 3rd parties.
I was so glad to be on the phone at that moment. “Carmen” needed me to connect dots for her — the dots that may have contributed to Donald Trump’s election last time. The Libertarian and Green parties siphoned off about 4.35 percent of the vote. Add in the other 3rd parties, the total edges toward 6%. Hilary Clinton won the popular vote (a thing that really confuses many recent graduates) while losing the election. What if she had gotten that 1.07% from the Green Party? Or a majority of the libertarian vote?
Clinton 48.18% (Democrat)
Trump 46.09% (Republican)
Johnson 3.28% (Libertarian)
Stein 1.07% (Green)
Others 1.38% (Wikipedia)
I view the libertarians as an unquantifiable force. I am sure many Libertarians favored Trump over Clinton, and the Libertarian vote might or might not have hurt Clinton. We can’t know. But I am damn sure that the Green Party took almost all of its votes away from Clinton. Any socialists also took votes from Clinton.
The politics of 3rd party votes is complicated. Here’s the thing our young people must understand: A vote for the Green Party is a vote for Trump. A vote for the Socialist Workers Party is a vote for Trump. A vote for Kanye West is probably a vote for Trump.
If this finish is tight — 49% to 51% — for example, those Green and Socialist votes can be expected to skew results away from the Democrats. I understand the function of a 3rd party vote as a protest vote and an expression of values. I’ve voted for 3rd party candidates. But in a close race, third-party votes can operate to swing an election.
Unfortunately, schools desperate to raise their annual test scores have been stealing time and learning opportunities away from social studies. We have an absurd number of high school graduates who don’t understand the Electoral College. These recent graduates might decide to write in Bernie Sanders because they love Bernie without understanding the implications.
I don’t want to tell anyone how to vote. I would rather tell them to explore the issues. Read about the candidates. Check out the many news sources available — British and other foreign sources help provide bits of objectivity in a charged and polarized time. Research is key here.
I do want to implore older readers to talk to young voters. Make sure younger voters understand how voting works — know how the electoral college functions and know that almost all of a 2% Green Party vote will be 2% taken from the democrats — which may matter in states with close votes. The Paris Accords pretty much assured that Green voters would NOT be Trump voters.
This year, more than any year in my retired teacher memory, we can’t afford to “waste” votes. I don’t believe we can trust the polls. I’m not sure if anyone knows what is going on — I am absolutely sure that Russia and probably China have their hands deep in the cookie jar at the moment — and I want to rescue new voters from casting votes they may later deeply regret.
