THE SECRETS of POLITICAL POWER
How did it come to pass that the two major presidential contenders on November’s ballot are George W. Bush and Al Gore? Out of thousands of eligible people from all walks of life, how is it that the son of a former President and the son of a U.S. Senator are the ones we must choose between to be our next President, especially when there might exist the possibility that "None of the Above" might win the election if it were placed on the ballot? Are these candidates really the people’s choice?
No, not really. The candidates are their respective party’s choice. This is the first secret of political power. Power does not lie in the ballot box. Instead, it lies within the political party system, where those who control the party, also control the ballot box. This not only applies to presidential elections, but to all elections at every level.
The next secret is that political power starts at the bottom, rather than at the top. Most people participate only at the very end of the election process when they vote, often when choices are poor. While the news media and various elected politicians talks about such items as campaign reform and term limits, they also make it a point not to discuss the source of real political power. It is but a ruse, hoping the public never catches on. Keeping the public so uniformed greatly helps that their political power base will remain unchallenged.
Consider the lowly county central committee seat. There is one for each ward in each county for each of the two major parties Very often, the incumbent goes unchallenged or only one name will appear on the ballot. It is not uncommon to have no one running in a particular ward at all. To most, these are not important at all and few pay attention to them, yet these are perhaps the most important elections of them all!
It is within the central committee that a potential political candidate will receive official party endorsement. Without it, a candidate will have little chance of being placed on the ballot. Thus, those that can control the central committees often can control who will be placed on the ballot. Party leaders work very hard to keep such control by rewarding loyal members, while denying rewards to others. Loyal members pledge fealty in return.
One of the most common rewards to loyal members is an appointment to a well-paying government position. These members know that if their employer does not keep his elected post, they will most likely lose their jobs. It becomes incumbent upon them to do all they can to keep all others from running against those of their party already elected into office. This helps ensure their own gainful employment and party loyalty greatly increases the probability of being appointed to a higher and much better paying position in government. In return, the party leadership does all they can to protect loyal central committee members, rewarding the most loyal of them as they are able.
This arrangement helps create a closed political environment within the party, often making it very difficult for new people, who are not politically connected themselves, to enter in. Rather than being unimportant or trivial, central committee seats are strongly protected by the party leadership and the entire campaign process for these seats is often dirty, vicious, and laws are sometimes violated. For example, an aspiring candidate might find that their petition has been summarily disqualified by the local board of elections – even though the original petitions for sitting central committee seat members have the same supposed flaws. It is not uncommon for party members working at the local board of elections to report to the party leadership whenever petitions are filed so that an opponent can be found or appointed. Telephone calls are made to family members and employers suggesting, sometimes threatening, one not be run and/or quit. If it is a good possibility that one might win, sometimes the party leadership will offer campaign support (a.k.a. a bribe) with the hope that they will be able bring him into the fold. Because central committees, through their endorsements, have so much control over the ballot box, the party leadership knows that they will lose political power if they should ever lose control over the central committees. This is the dirtiest of all secrets of political power.
It is for this very reason why so many of the very same names, and the names of so many families, appear over and over again on the ballot and why the voting public often has so few good choices when it comes to voting.
It is one of the reasons why term limits do not work very well. The party leadership will simply replace those who have reached their term limit with another politician of their choice and who represents their political views
It is one of the reasons why calls for campaign reform are duplicitous. By the time a great many politicians have been elected into high office, they are already very much beholden to the party leadership that made it all possible. Most of the measures proposed for campaign reform will only remove influence from the top of the election process, when almost all of the choices have already been determined by the party leadership, while leaving it completely unaffected at the bottom where such influence is most powerful.
It is one of the reasons that, despite better qualifications, most people will never be on the ballot. They are political outsiders and the party leadership has very little hope of ever being able to influence them – let alone control them. For all such people, the door into politics is effectively shut.
People should not despair upon learning these secrets – the ones never taught in a high school civics or social science class – because now they know some of the ways to tear down and rebuild our corrupted political infrastructure. The key is to tear down the political power of the present party leadership of the major parties. This can be accomplished by wrestling control of the central committees away from them. Once they lose control over the central committees, they will ultimately lose control over the ballot box.
Taking control away from the present party leadership is both difficult and easy at the very same time. All it takes is ample participation on the part of the voting public. The very best way to start is to run for a local central committee seat. It does not take much to get started. As few as twelve names from registered voters are sometimes all that is needed on a petition to be placed on the primary ballot. Make absolutely sure that the petition is filled out correctly. File the petition on the very last day allowed so that the local party leadership cannot find or appoint an opponent. Stick with it. Do not become intimidated. Take no campaign support if and when offered. And upon becoming elected, take no rewards, such as an appointment in local government. Do not grant the local party leadership any means of influence or control. In this fashion, you will be free to vote as you please when it comes to political endorsements. From here, the door to future public service could open and the voting public might have a good choice amongst candidates for a change. Can you do it? Will you do it? The people need you. Do it.
The entrenched party leadership will lose its political power and control as more and more members of the voting public choose this course of action. The process is called cleaning house and the objective is to take away political power and control from the party leadership and give it back to the voting public, where it belongs. When successful, the ballot box will again be open to all, choices will from amongst a great many, hard working members of the public will again considering serving in public office for a time, cynicism and apathy toward the political process will arrested, and our personal freedom and liberty will become well-protected.