The Optimistic American - Audio Edition

Jun 21, 2023

In this episode of The Optimistic American, Paul Johnson sits down with members of the Voter Choice Arizona executive committee Blake Sacha, Kathy Knecht, and organizing director Kazz Fernandes.

The panel discusses how Voter Choice Arizona came to be, what it’s all about, and how it aims to change  the current political system and improve democracy.

• This season of The Optimistic American will focus on political reforms that can help make certain that the American political system operates better than it does today.
• Paul used it as an example of the disconnect between elected officials and the massive deficit spending of Congress. A balanced budget amendment is supported overwhelmingly by the public yet both parties, when in power, fail to advance it. Surprisingly, the last balanced budget was Bill Clinton’s.
• Paul pointed out how recently even paying the debt of the United States has come into question, with multiple members of both parties voting against the compromise, seemingly willing to put the nation into bankruptcy over partisanship.
• Paul discusses the historical significance of paying the debt back with Alexander Hamilton, demanding paying back speculators who purchased debt instruments from soldiers at pennies on the dollar to Revolutionary War soldiers. His legacy was the importance of securing the good faith and credit of the United States, leading us to be a great power.
• Blake Sacha talks about how he became involved with the reform effort, “Voter Choice in Arizona” designed to treat all voters equally and make elected officials accountable to the public. He believes it is about 'Bad systems that beat good people.'
• Kathy Knecht shares how incumbents try to insure they won’t have competition by making it impossible for independents to run by making signature requirements 6-10 times higher than democrats or republicans. This was why she decided to join Voter Choice in Arizona.
• Organizing director Kazz Fernandes touches upon different aspects of Voter Choice Arizona, including its beginnings, funding, and how the organization finds new members.
• The way Ranked Choice Voting works is simple: vote for the candidate you like and then indicate who your second place person is as well as your third.. If your #1 choice doesn't win, then your vote goes to your second choice.
• By having multiple candidates in the run-off, if you attack another candidate it harms you both, and the third candidate benefits. So, it disincentivizes mudslinging.
• Paul and his guests go over the pros and cons of Ranked Choice Voting and its system. They believe the existing partisan system is failing the American people.
• When asked who are the opponents of Ranked Choice Voting, the panel was clear it was incumbents.
• The reason incumbents dislike open primaries and Ranked Choice Voting is because it creates competition. Today through gerrymandering over 85% of legislative and congressional seats are safe districts. The overwhelming majority of incumbents don’t have a general election opponent. This gives them the ability to ignore independent voters, and voters in the other party and only pay attention to the extremes in their own party. The result is greater division for our country as our elected officials no longer are willing to listen to people in the other party.

Mentioned in This Episode:

optamerican.com

Addictive Ideologies: Finding Meaning and Agency When Politics Fail You by Dr Emily Bashah and Hon Paul Johnson

VoterChoiceArizona.org

Rank the Vote

Bill Clinton

Lyndon B. Johnson

Thomas Jefferson

Alexander Hamilton