riddle@ut-sally.UUCP (09/08/83)
Before I begin, let me say that I am not (as yet) a member of the
Citizens' Party and am probably rather poorly informed about it, so what
I say here should be read with caution. I am raising the subject as a
topic for discussion partly in the hope that people who know more about
it will join in.
The Citizens' Party is a (relatively) new political party in the U.S.
It bills itself as a "progressive" party and its stands on the issues
reflect that: it is anti-nuclear, anti-arms-race, environmentalist, pro-
choice, in favor of social programs and generally "to the left" on the
political spectrum (whatever such a simplistic label means). It sees it-
self as presenting an alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties,
which it views as virtually indistinguishable.
The party is still very small, and in most parts of the country its
current struggle is shared with all small parties in our two-party system:
it is simply trying to acheive recognition, trying to get enough signatures
to put candidates on the ballot and then get enough votes to stay on next
time. I hear that it has run, and even won, a few serious campaigns for
local office here and there, but I don't know any details.
Here in Texas, the situation is a bit more complicated. Texas has
basically a one-party system (especially now that Bill Clements, our
first Republican governor since Reconstruction, was whupped in his bid
for re-election last year). Who wins an office at the state-wide level
is often determined in the Democratic primary. Unfortunately, in order
to sign a petition to get a new party on the ballot, a citizen must not
have voted in the latest primary; there are apparently a lot of "progres-
sives" (like me) who like what they hear about the Citizens' Party but
are reluctant to give up their chance to vote for the few progressive
candidates operating within the Democratic party (you can count them on
the fingers of one hand) in order to give the Citizens' Party a symbolic
boost by helping them onto the ballot.
So we are left with an almost moral dilemma: do we "vote our con-
sciences", as the Citizens' Party folks would have us do, in a possibly
quixotic attempt to build for the future; or do we continue to vote
with a political strategy, i.e. a bit cynically, supporting the occai-
sional decent candidate who comes along, but mostly just voting for the
lesser of two evils?
It's a difficult question. I would appreciate hearing some discus-
sion on it. Even more, I'd like information from people who know more
about the Citizens' Party (especially from any of you who live where the
party has won some races).
-- Prentiss Riddle
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