Voters head into next week's election after seeing exceptional threats to our democracy, from increased government surveillance to challenges to the right to vote. But some threats to the electoral system come from us. One is voting a single issue rather than balancing all considerations related to the country and the world.
It's never the best way to vote, though when the country seems to be running on the right track, we feel we can afford to use our votes to push our cherished causes. But this year is different. Too much is at stake. People's lives are hanging on the integrity of the climate and the economy. Single-issue votes are a luxury we can't afford.
Not that it's a simple matter. Take the issue of guns, which greatly influences our elections. To many, that seems to be more than a single issue. It reaches out to embrace constitutionality, self-sufficiency, personal and national security. To say that it's symbolic is to underestimate what it means to people who espouse it. The same is true of abortion. To many, that issue encompasses decency, morality, the value of family, of life itself.
Another single issue is money: lower taxes, favorable legislation for businesses. Another is party allegiance. The Advocate's former corporate parent, the Chicago Tribune, has done a commendable job of throwing over both considerations—its wish to hang onto its media monopoly, and its Republicanism—to back a Democrat, Barack Obama, for the first time in its history.
Among the most entrenched single issues are the interests of foreign countries to which voters, or blocs of voters, have ties. Israel, Turkey, Cuba, India and countless other nations have constituents here who want someone in Washington to help their homelands with everything from aid and trade deals to military assistance.
But for best results next week, voters must prioritize, take the long view, and vote for whoever will best serve all the needs of the nation—the U.S., not some other nation—and of a world that needs peace, emergency relief for millions in crisis, and mitigation of climate change. This is no time to oversimplify a complex set of conditions and base votes on a single issue.
