Strategic Voting

What are we supposed to do when the two major parties in our country have platforms that are even more loopy than the outlandish platforms of fringe parties like the Greens or independent candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr? Or should I say former independent candidate and now potential cabinet member in a Trump presidency.

Normally I like the convenience of early voting. I can do it when I please and there are rarely any lines. My wife prefers election day voting just in case there is some sort of October Surprise that needs to be taken into account before casting one’s ballot. This election I think I will join her, but not because I fear an October Surprise. What I fear is that either the MAGA Republicans or the Progressive Democrats will sweep the elections and then proceed to implement their loopy ideas. Early voting will begin soon but you should consider trading convenience for a good defensive strategy.

The policy proposals of both former President Trump and Vice President Harris are horrendous and would destroy America if implemented. The economic proposals of both candidates came under scrutiny earlier this week when Joe Kernan, host of CNBC’s Squawk Box asked two former council of economic advisors chairmen, Kevin Hassett who served in the Trump Administration and Jason Furman who served in the Obama administration to defend the interventionist policies of the current presidential candidates. Despite the clear partisan bias of these two economists, they were hard pressed to explain those policies. Mr. Hassett stated that Mr. Trump’s proposals to impose across the board tariffs were actually reciprocal responses to the high tariffs of our trading partners. But they aren’t reciprocal responses but across the board tariffs of 10% plus additional tariffs on some free market scofflaws such as China of up to 60%. Mr. Hassett also felt that Mr. Trump would not be able to take over the Fed even though he would like to do so.

Mr. Furman for his part, downplayed Ms. Harris’ proposals to prevent price-gouging as targeted and “populism light”, before quickly reverting to attacks on Mr. Trump’s proposals. But Joe Kernan reminded Mr. Furman of Ms. Harris’ statements about corporate greed, banning fracking, banning offshore drilling and a litany of other far left proposals that she is now trying to walk back. Mr. Furman’s only defense, although pretty lame, was that Ms. Harris’ proposals would require congressional approval while Mr. Trump’s ability to increase tariffs is within the authority of the president.

But Chuck Schumer is seeking to undermine Mr. Furman’s defense against Ms. Harris’ policies by changing the nature of US government to perpetuate the Democrats hold on power for the foreseeable future. If the progressive left Democrats control the executive and legislative branches, we have a clear indication of the type of agenda they intend to implement, we only need to look at what Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz accomplished as Minnesota governor in just a few months once the Democrats controlled the state legislature and governor’s mansion. One of these so-called accomplishments was in 2023 when Gov. Walz signed into law a requirement that Minnesota public schools institute a CRT-based “liberated” ethnic studies curriculum beginning in kindergarten.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has a long list of reforms he wants to make. His first step will be to eliminate the filibuster. The Democrats have long chafed about how the filibuster prevents them from enacting their agenda which would be possible even if the Senate was split 50/50 because the Vice President has the deciding vote. The filibuster requires either a landslide victory (as FDR had in order to enact the New Deal) or a broad bipartisan consensus (that passed the Civil rights Act).

With the filibuster gone the Democrats could make DC and maybe even Puerto Rico states each with two senators in order to consolidate their grip on power. The Democrats could then pack the Supreme Court with partisan justices. Finally, the progressive agenda would be freed from constitutional restraints. Hallelujah. America would now be able to go down the same path as poor benighted Venezuela. The same reforms that are now being proposed by Mexico’s lame duck president as his legacy.

The problem we face is that it is not enough to block Donald Trump’s MAGA Republicans from sweeping to power if they can control both the executive and legislative branches. We also need to block Kamala Harris’ progressive Democrats from doing the same thing. And the only way we can do that is through divided government. Maybe that will give us some time for saner leaders to emerge.

But we won’t know until just before the election which candidate is leading the presidential race and which party is leading in the legislative races. Right now Ms. Harris is benefitting from the sugar high of the Democratic National Convention but it seems likely that polls will change when debates begin and people learn about her policy proposals. It is critical that Chuck Schumer’s Democrats don’t win the Senate because many of the changes he is proposing cannot be countered by the other branches of government. That means that we will likely need (swallow hard) to vote for a Democratic House.

Recent elections have been extremely tight. Most people reject both the MAGA and progressive agendas as too extreme. I plan to vote for divided government so I will wait until the last minute. My voting strategy may not have much impact down here in Texas, but those of you in battleground states could have a decisive impact on the future of our country. Think strategically and then hold your nose in the voting booth.