| Making Your One Vote Really Count by Joe Andi |
“Property taxes are killing me … I can’t afford to live here anymore … why doesn’t someone, do
something about corruption? … I’m moving my business to Delaware ... Both parties are the same …
you can’t trust either party … politicians are all crooks … why bother to vote, nothing changes … I don’t
have the time to get involved”
Wouldn’t it be great, if we could take back our government by simply picking two trusted neighbors
(1 male and 1 female) to represent us?
It would be their job to:
- Select party candidates who swear to represent us (or be punished)
- Keep us informed of all political people and issues that directly concern us
- Put our interests before those of the political party leaders
It would be our job to:
- Vote for these neighborhood representatives in a primary election
- Vote for the selected candidates who are sworn to represent us
The entire process wouldn’t take us more than a couple of hours a year. If our neighborhood reps failed to
represent us, we could fix it by walking down the street for a simple face-to-face (or fist-to-face) meeting.
Wait a minute, the Democratic and Republican parties are based on neighborhood representatives;
they're called County Committee People. So, why don’t most of us know about these reps? Why don’t we know
who they are? Or what they do?
We don't know about our neighborhood representatives because, both political parties have become
private clubs. Those who hold elective offices have full membership privileges; the higher the office the greater
the privileges. The rest of us are invited to be associate members; we have to pay for club privileges. Both
parties want our vote; but neither wants us to be involved in their internal affairs. Consequently, local officials,
want to hand pick County Committee People who can be told what to do, and who can be trusted to play the “I
scratch your back and you scratch mine” game. Both parties discourage concerned voters from running for the
office. They say that the job of a county committee person is to “Get out the vote”. Very few of us would want
that job and even fewer of us would have the time for such a job.
We don’t know our reps because we didn’t know that we were supposed to pick them. Call your local
Democratic and Republican party officials and ask them who your county committee people are. Don’t be
surprised if they’re reluctant to tell you. They really don’t want you messing with their private club.
We don’t know what our neighborhood reps do because we never read their Party Bylaws. Why would
we, if we’re not running for office? It turns out that the bylaws for both parties can vary from town to town and
county to county and state to state. However they all have one thing in common; the real power of the party
rests in the hands of the county committee people. Our neighborhood representatives are authorized to select
the party’s candidates, elect party officials and amend the party’s bylaws. Collectively, they are the party. If we
want to change both parties we need only change our neighborhood representatives.
If we really want to take back control of our government, then we have to take control of the two
parties that control our government. The procedure is easy:
- Agree to a simple set of common goals and ethical standards
- Register with the dominant party in our neighborhood
- Select neighbors that we can trust to represent us
- Vote in primary elections for our trusted neighbors
- Vote for candidates who are sworn to represent us, our goals and our standards
To make your One Vote really count, vote in a party primary for two neighbors that you can trust to
represent you, or be that trusted neighbor who is elected.
If we want a “government of the people, for the people and by the people”, then we must
remember, we are the people; and it’s our actions, not our complaints, that will give us the
government we want.
something about corruption? … I’m moving my business to Delaware ... Both parties are the same …
you can’t trust either party … politicians are all crooks … why bother to vote, nothing changes … I don’t
have the time to get involved”
Wouldn’t it be great, if we could take back our government by simply picking two trusted neighbors
(1 male and 1 female) to represent us?
It would be their job to:
- Select party candidates who swear to represent us (or be punished)
- Keep us informed of all political people and issues that directly concern us
- Put our interests before those of the political party leaders
It would be our job to:
- Vote for these neighborhood representatives in a primary election
- Vote for the selected candidates who are sworn to represent us
The entire process wouldn’t take us more than a couple of hours a year. If our neighborhood reps failed to
represent us, we could fix it by walking down the street for a simple face-to-face (or fist-to-face) meeting.
Wait a minute, the Democratic and Republican parties are based on neighborhood representatives;
they're called County Committee People. So, why don’t most of us know about these reps? Why don’t we know
who they are? Or what they do?
We don't know about our neighborhood representatives because, both political parties have become
private clubs. Those who hold elective offices have full membership privileges; the higher the office the greater
the privileges. The rest of us are invited to be associate members; we have to pay for club privileges. Both
parties want our vote; but neither wants us to be involved in their internal affairs. Consequently, local officials,
want to hand pick County Committee People who can be told what to do, and who can be trusted to play the “I
scratch your back and you scratch mine” game. Both parties discourage concerned voters from running for the
office. They say that the job of a county committee person is to “Get out the vote”. Very few of us would want
that job and even fewer of us would have the time for such a job.
We don’t know our reps because we didn’t know that we were supposed to pick them. Call your local
Democratic and Republican party officials and ask them who your county committee people are. Don’t be
surprised if they’re reluctant to tell you. They really don’t want you messing with their private club.
We don’t know what our neighborhood reps do because we never read their Party Bylaws. Why would
we, if we’re not running for office? It turns out that the bylaws for both parties can vary from town to town and
county to county and state to state. However they all have one thing in common; the real power of the party
rests in the hands of the county committee people. Our neighborhood representatives are authorized to select
the party’s candidates, elect party officials and amend the party’s bylaws. Collectively, they are the party. If we
want to change both parties we need only change our neighborhood representatives.
If we really want to take back control of our government, then we have to take control of the two
parties that control our government. The procedure is easy:
- Agree to a simple set of common goals and ethical standards
- Register with the dominant party in our neighborhood
- Select neighbors that we can trust to represent us
- Vote in primary elections for our trusted neighbors
- Vote for candidates who are sworn to represent us, our goals and our standards
To make your One Vote really count, vote in a party primary for two neighbors that you can trust to
represent you, or be that trusted neighbor who is elected.
If we want a “government of the people, for the people and by the people”, then we must
remember, we are the people; and it’s our actions, not our complaints, that will give us the
government we want.
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| We are the people having Fun cleaning up NJ's governments |