Vote for Checks and Balances
McCain has a point.
My state government has been plagued with corruption – from both parties. I'd like to see strong checks and balances there too. For example, if the state government is controlled by Democrats, I'd like the Auditor to be a Republican. But if Republicans control the government the Auditor should be a Democrat. And, in this wonderful state, I get to vote for the Auditor.
So where, on the ballot, do I vote for “checks and balances”? Where do I vote to support McCain's point? How do I express my choice for Auditor as being “the other party”?
I can't. I can vote for a Democrat for Governor or for President; and a Republican for the Senate or as Auditor – and if everyone else agrees with me, then we'd get Checks and Balances. But it is possible that the Republican wins for Governor or President and so my vote for a republican senator or auditor contributes to the very one-sided government that I wanted to avoid – the very situation that McCain warned against.
Why is a citizen's participation in our democratic processes such a blunt instrument? Should we tolerate a system in which the people (you know, the ones that are supposed to be in charge as in “Government by the People”) cannot express their will unambiguously; where is quite possible that the apparent will of the people is the opposite of what they intended?
Can't we do better?