THERE IS ONLY ONE CHOICE IN THIS ELECTION

My eleventh-hour plea to those that are sitting out this election or contemplating voting for a third-party

Normally I would issue individual endorsements for races in Colorado and other elections of interest, but this is an extremely ordinary circumstance.

It would come to no surprise that I would endorse Democratic candidates, but there is really only one choice in this election and it is for Democratic candidates across the country.

At a state party meeting in early 2017, Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Morgan Carrol said that third parties lack the organizational or the numbers to provide an alternative to the two-party system

There are only two independents – Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont – currently in federal offices and they caucus with the Democrats in the senate. There is one independent governor, in Alaska, and he has recently declined to run for re-election.

In order to find any third-party members holding any office, you have to dig very deep and it is very few. As shown with King, Sanders and Alaska’s political makeup, many of them caucus with one of the two major parties in order to be members of committees in the legislature. As I have learned in Colorado, committees are very important and determine whether a bill goes to the floor of a legislative chamber or not (see: transgender birth certificate, reparative therapy ban).

For better or worse, this is a two-party system. Duverger’s Law states it. And if you wish to place the blame on why it is, you can blame Hamilton and Adams – representing the Federalists – and Jefferson and Madison – representing the Anti-Federalists – at the very start.

The only purpose third parties have in this country is ensuring that Republicans get elected. In 2000, Florida was the focus due to how close the vote margin was between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

But it wasn’t Florida that Gore needed to win but rather New Hampshire. Bush won the state by a little more than 7200 votes while Green Party candidate Ralph Nader won 22000 votes. If a third of Nader voters had voted for Gore in New Hampshire, then all of the Florida nonsense would have been moot as Gore would have cleared the 270-elecotral vote threshold by just one.

Third-parties combined with targeted voter suppression in key swing states and an irresponsible media put this orange nightmare into the White House. Unfortunately, many of them will not admit their responsibility in making Donald Trump president because “Hillary Clinton just didn’t inspire me”, “I wanted Bernie”, or whatever white nonsense to justify their privilege that they will not be directly impacted by the actions of this administration.

And this is from my fellow football prognosticator, Monica Roberts. She has very good political instincts and directed me towards my state representative during her 2016 campaign.

“You do not get progressive policies from conservative politicians”

Having lived in Texas and witness this first hand, then in Colorado seeing the state senate with a one-seat Republican majority block meaningful civil rights and other progressive legislation, that mantra holds true.

There is magical thinking among some people on my side that believes that Republicans need to be enlightened and if confronted by their constituents they will see the light and vote accordingly.

The Kavanaugh confirmation should kill that myth. The GOP Tax Cuts that ballooned the deficit and debt should kill that myth. The 2016 election showed that in the end Republicans will justify their vote for a Republican – no matter how awful that candidate is – just to punish those that support left leaning, progressive, liberal policies.

Senator Susan Collins of Maine is the embodiment of that very myth (as well as the 53% of white women that voted Trump). Remember, she voted for all of those things and the plan to repeal ObamaCare that was defeated at the last minute by John McCain.

Republicans will not hold this president accountable. They justify their support of him and his bad behavior with tax cuts, the confirmation of judges to our federal judiciary, and doing whatever they can to undo the Obama presidency.

Democrats in the states can rebuke and minimize the damage that Trump and his cabal of cronies are doing to this country. Electing Democrats to governorships and various state legislative seats can also begin to undo the damage that Republicans did in the aftermath of 2010 where they won the ability to redraw congressional districts, passed legislation to restrict abortion access, made it harder to vote, enacted laws that targeted the transgender community, and Michigan’s emergency manager law that resulted in the still continuing Flint water crisis.

Voting third-party or not voting will only justify your complicity with what this administration and other Republicans are doing. History will not be kind to Trump enablers as well to those that sat on the sidelines or voted differently when there was a more viable option available.

Undoing Trump and Republicans will not mean this election but it will take subsequent elections – any upcoming special elections, 2020, and possibly 2022. This will be a long fight and it will need people to do their part.

There is only one party that can do it, and it needs the numbers in Congress and various state legislatures to do so.

A Democratic Congress will hold Trump accountable.

Democratic governors, attorney generals, and state legislatures will support policies to counter the Trump administration’s ignorance, maltreatment, and cruelty.

And that is the only choice in this election

Vote