Voter IQs Need Refresher Course
No, it is relief from radical mood swings and polarized politics that Ornstein is after. In that pursuit, expanding the electorate tops a list of useful suggestions that he and Tom Mann of the Brookings Institution urge us to adopt in their appropriately titled new book about Washington's political dysfunction, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks."
It is their hope that making it more convenient for Americans to vote would encourage more moderates and independents to vote and cool off some of the hyperpartisanship that increasingly has gridlocked legislation in Washington since President Barack Obama's election.
"Higher turnout would attract more citizens with less-fixed partisan and ideological commitments into the electorate," they write.
Ornstein invited me to imagine near universal voting in the USA, as Australia already demands with their mandatory voting laws. Failure to vote without a written excuse can bring a fine equivalent to about $15, he said. If you really don't like the choices, you also can vote for "none of the above," a choice that I am sure many Americans would like to see implemented here.
It is a noble dream to imagine the end of base-focused campaigns, in which each party tries to mobilize their strongest supporters and suppress the likely voters for the other side. But, considering how many Americans oppose any intrusion by government into their lives, I don't expect to see mandatory voting very soon.
Besides, there is something to be said for those who care enough about voting to take the time and effort to do it. The challenge for our political leadership and for us in the media is to help them receive good information as to whom and what they're voting for.
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E-mail Clarence Page at cpage(at)tribune.com.
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