The following is a letter to the editor from Steve Sadowski. To submit your own letter to the editor, e-mail asylvia@westfordcat.org
Letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of WestfordCAT or its Board of Directors.
I just got done reading Paul Cully’s letter to the editor this morning regarding The United Independent Party and his criticisms of one-party as well as two-party rule here in Massachusetts. In full disclosure, Paul and I serve on the same committee, and I frequently remark that we always agree on the diagnosis of the problem, but we diverge when it comes to the treatment. I like Paul a lot. He brings a needed fire and passion to the debate over how Town-owned lands are earmarked.
Paul is 100% correct that there is one party rule in Massachusetts. This has led to corruption and graft. The list of Speakers of the House who left in disgrace—all Democrats— is a shame. And if a dozen more Republicans get elected, would that fix the problem? No. We have seen that Republicans in power get us into wars, drive up the debt, and limit our freedoms as well as any Democrat. Paul is correct that we need a 3rd party to truly bring about change, cooperation, coalition building, and much needed choice for the diverse population of voters.
However, joining the United Independent Party is not the 3rd Party answer he and many others are looking for. It is true, the U.I.P. does have major party status here in Massachusetts, but that only lasts as long as you continue to garner 10% of the vote. If Evan Falchuk and his money doesn’t run, that status will not last very long. The U.I.P. is a Massachusetts’ phenomenon. It does not go anywhere from here. So if you join, your highest expectation ends at the State House. There is no U.I.P. candidate for president. And there’s nothing wrong with that per se, if you’re strictly concerned with local politics, but the entire country needs a 3rd Party choice, not just one of its states. So is there a 3rd party, already set up, already functioning, with candidates in multiple states including Massachusetts that is also running a presidential candidate? The answer is “yes.”
If you are socially liberal, in other words; you allow for people to be who they are, marry whom they choose, feel that the Drug war has created a prison industrial complex where a disproportionate amount of criminals are minorities, and generally allow people to do what they want as so long as they don’t hurt anyone else….
If you respect the Constitution and want ALL the Amendments adhered to, not just the ones that personally effect our lifestyles…
If you see war as a last resort and do not want to be the world’s policeman, sending our sons and daughters across the world as centurions….
AND if you see a $20 trillion debt as a threat to the lives and sovereignty of our children and grandchildren who ultimately will have to pay for this debt and its consequences…
Then, you might just be a Libertarian. Maybe you’ve heard of us? We are the 3rd largest party in the United States. We have run a presidential candidate every election since our inception in 1971. This year, Gary Johnson, the ex-Governor of New Mexico will probably be our candidate (if he wins the nomination). As governor, Gary left the state of New Mexico with a balanced budget and a surplus. Unlike anyone on the debate stage except John Kasich, he actually ran a state successfully, but unlike John Kasich, he started a million dollar construction business from scratch and unlike Donald Trump, he didn’t inherit his daddy’s money to do it. The Libertarian Party also has hundreds of elected officials in many states across the country. In other words, we offer what the U.I.P. cannot: a standing, viable, functioning, national, and popular 3rd Party.
And last but not least, if you’re looking for a party that is actively trying to break up the political duopoly that my colleague Paul Cully says we should, then Gary Johnson has sued the Presidential Debate Commission to allow any candidate on the stage who can mathematically win the presidency. We await the court’s decision in the next few months. Be free: join the Libertarian Party. Our Massachusetts site is: http://lpmass.org
