Joe Siano Libertarian For Congress: On Third Party, Second Class

In today’s hyper contentious political times, we are told that everyday Americans pray for a spirit of bipartisanship, to see the two parties come together in common cause.

Praise the Lord!  The Republicans and Democrats have finally found an issue that they can hold hands on; keeping third party candidates off the ballot.  Like brothers who seem to fight incessantly, they quickly drop their squabbles to turn back any outside challenger.

The Philadelphia Inquirer recently ran a story about the shenanigans of the PA Democrats and Republicans working tirelessly to challenge third party candidates through technicalities and have them removed from the ballot.  As voters tire of the same old same old, the Big 2 want to make sure that voters have no choice but Brand D or Brand R come voting day.  It kind of reminds one of the Soviet style one party elections.  The Party got all the votes, ergo, the voters must be happy.

This is frustrating but it’s what I’ve come to expect from professional pols whose only concerns are power, prestige and perks.

However, it saddens me when I see the same games played by my Tea Party brothers who are ostensibly “fighting the man” to restore America to limited Constitutional government.

A group of New Jersey patriots had a great idea: Certified Constitutional Candidate. 
C3 is a website that that ostensibly rates candidates for public office based upon their knowledge of and fealty to strict constructionist Constitutional principle.  The candidates are evaluated in an open forum by answering questions from voters on the blog page.   The only problem is C3’s unstated policy of awarding certification only to Republican candidates. 

This policy does both NJ voters and C3 itself a grave disservice.  Voters have no clue that the game is rigged.  Rigging the game undermines the credibility and integrity of what the creators set out to do, that is, vet candidates based upon their adherence to Constitutional principle.  As I explained to several of the C3 staffers, certification implies only that the candidate has demonstrated some degree of knowledge and competency in Constitutionalism. 

Certification does not constitute an endorsement. It is just one factor in weeding out the best and most qualified candidates.  Certified Constitutional candidates could hold a wide range of opinions on various policy issues, some wise, some not so wise but all Constitutional.  Endorsements, if C3 even needs to make them, should also consider the candidate’s specific policy positions, his character, experience and perceived ability to be effective.  But above all, it should be party-free.

The creators of C3 have the absolute right to run it as they choose.  But if becomes apparent that they are just a shill for Republican candidates, they have defeated their own cause and C3 becomes meaningless.