Deconstructing the myth of "both parties are just as bad"

May 25, 2012

Imagine you're living in a small town faced with a choice of two mayoral candidates:

(1) "Honest" Bob, the living embodiment of the "sleazy used car salesman" stereotype
(2) Darth Vader

Maybe you're feeling stubbornly idealistic about not wanting to vote for "the lesser of two evils." You're picturing Bob blowing off his campaign promises, using his power to score hot members of his preferred gender(s), skimming city funds, handing out cushy jobs and contracts to his cronies.  What Bob won't be doing is going through town crushing the throats of people who disagree with him.

Darth Vader?  Will.

Yes, ideally you don't want to be stuck voting for someone you can hardly profess to genuinely support.  Ideally, you want a system that produces better candidates and isn't as open to abuse by elected officials.

But the world isn't ideal, and this is the choice in front of you.  Before you can change the system, you need for your throat to remain uncrushed by Darth Vader.  It might even be worth electing "Honest" Bob and applying public pressure to keep him from the worst of his petty abuses.