Thread by @Dividist

1st - Thanks for the shoutout in your inaugural podcast.

Excellent work. You have an inviting, friendly, confident demeanor & @TheCenterPod comes across as informative, honest, & professional. I've not been a big podcast fan, but look forward to hearing more.

Some thoughts.. /1

https://twitter.com/TheCenterPod/status/1210668147654586368

2nd - To respond directly to your speculation, yes I was born in Chicago and raised on the North Side. Despite having lived in the Bay Area for over 30 years, I retain my Chicago sports loyalties: Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks. Thank you for your sympathy.

Back to politics.. /2

3a - I like your take describing #Moderates, #Centrists & #Independents. In that context I thought I'd try to categorize myself, not necessarily using your definitions, and not sure I can get there in this format (twitter thread).

Got to run now - Continued in a few hours .. /3

3b - Independents. Context matters. My dividist perspective is limited to voting at the Federal Level - POTUS, Senator, Representative. That's it. Anyone who has always voted ONLY R or D for any of those Federal offices in the last 20 years (or ever) is a partisan in my book.. /4

3c - ..regardless of whether they self-identify as Indies or non-aligned or whatever. If you vote like a partisan, you're partisan.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Some of my best friends are partisans.

The oft-quoted # "40% Indy" is BS: /5

fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-m…

3d - The real number of voters who are True #Independents capable of switching their party vote at the Fed level is probably less that 15% of the electorate. This is a problem for all the 3rd Party #Centrist pipe dreams. You can't get there from here.. /6

dividist.com/2018/02/third-…

3e - Your Moderate & Centrist definitions are reasonable. As you say, they can be Independent or Partisan. My point is that only the ones who are True Independents matter. We know how partisans vote, regardless of where they fall on the partisan spectrum. /7

Break. OSU Kickoff.

4a - Back. BTW I hate the SEC.

I was trying to explain where I stand in the partisan spectrum. Paradoxically, many of my personal policy preferences tend toward Right & Left extremes, yet I believe Centrist/Moderate incremental change is the best & only path for our country. /8

4b - So how do we get to a consistent Centrist Path to "Find the Center", when Independent Centrists are a sliver of the electorate and, being independent, tend to cancel each other out at the ballot box?

I propose there is a way. It's not a panacea. Perhaps only a bandaid. /9

4c - We have a Constitution that is designed to prevent the concentration of power by extremes, by the executive, by factions, or even by a majority against a minority. But the Constitutional Checks, Balances & Separation of Powers have a flaw unanticipated by the Framers... /10

4d - Unified single party rule government of the executive and both legislative branches undermines our Constitutional protections if partisan discipline trumps institutional loyalty. The fix is to not let 1 party control all three branches. We can do that at the ballot box. /11

4e - Since we have an electorate that is 80%+ Partisan and roughly evenly divided, it doesn't take many votes, perhaps as few as 6%, to maintain divided government. if some Independent Centrists vote in concert, sometimes R & sometimes D, we can maintain divided government, /12

4f -..fix the Framer's oversight, and reinforce Constitutional protections. Finally, since divided government also restrains the worst impulses of both parties, also keep our country from careening off the road on R or L & perhaps even "Find the Center"./F
dividist.com/p/voting-by-ob…

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