With only hours left before the US election it is too close to call a winner. There are a number of poll predictions; however given the recent results of polling accuracy, it is still a toss-up. Will either Trump or Clinton get enough Electoral College votes (270) to win or will they need an umpire to make the call? Under the US system, the House of Representatives will then be the umpire.
If this American election has shown anything it is how their system is vulnerable if not broken. Although there is the option to run as a third or independent party, the old two-party system is the construct for electing a President and Vice President. The voter chooses the party that their Electoral College representative promises to vote for – which seems a little weird because promises are made to be broken.
Touted as the world’s longest running democracy, the US is really a plutocracy. Although any US-born citizen can aspire to be President, only some oligarch with hundreds of millions of dollars can run a 4-year campaign for the presidency. And it seems as long as you have the cheque (check) book, you can give it a shot – there is no competency test.
However, forget about the US electoral system where they are choosing between an egomaniac and a prevaricator and think about our system. Recall our last election. Now, I’m not saying that Harper was an egomaniac or that Trudeau was a prevaricator but with the first past the post system (like they have in the US) we could be limiting our choices. In fact, a number of polls showed that although we did not favour an NDP government, most thought Tom Mulcair would be our best Prime Minister.
Mr Trudeau seems to be waffling on his promise for election reform. He seems to be under the illusion that he can win the next election in a cakewalk but I am beginning to wonder. Pipelines, First Nations People, the Military, the RCMP, Trade deals and election reform are just some of the stumbling blocks ahead for him. Okay, make that hurdles since he is rather athletic. And there is not much we can do about it – just like about half of the citizens south of the border who will be unhappy with the result of the election on November 8.
A problem with the two-party system - or in our case, 3 to 4 parties – is that they work in absolutes. With a majority in the House, they can force through legislation, deals and policies that the majority of Canadians do not like or approve. With a proportional system, the parties seeking power must make realistic promises, promises that they can keep when elected – albeit with likely a minority government. A cooperative minority government can work very well. Another benefit would be that we would no longer have people whining about the government being elected by only 39% of the voters (who only represented about 69% of the eligible voters).
I think Americans will be reviewing their system of electing a President after this election. No one wants a repeat of this last sideshow campaign where the best choice might have been ‘none of the above’. Perhaps if Justin would keep his promise of electoral reform we might be able to give our neighbours a few ideas on another version of running a democratic election.
Oh yes – my photo – The Cleveland Indian attempting the steal into second base was tagged out by the Blue Jay shortstop. Too bad this was not in the recent playoffs but in Spring Training, years ago . . .
