OPINION: Politics can be more than binary

It seems like our society has a variant of the “terrible twos,” a condition sometimes ascribed to toddlers. Long before the upcoming 2024 election, we’ve become self-imprisoned in a political duality that stifles thought, reason and meaningful discourse.

If you don’t proclaim yourself a card-carrying Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, you’re chastised, belittled and worst of all, ignored. The words “independent” and “nonpartisan” are deigned “wishy-washy.” You’re the baseball player who isn’t even considered good enough to play right field.

If you can see both sides of an argument, identify shades of gray instead of stark black and white; attempt to find workable compromises and solutions on issues; you are renounced by “my way or the highway,” lockstep Republicans — the kind heard on Anchorage talk radio.

Humans have good reasons for thinking in twos. We have two feet, two hands, two eyes. Computer language is ones and zeros. Our brain has two hemispheres, the left dedicated to logic, analytics, verbal and factual; the right dedicated to creative, intuitive and artistic thought.

Likewise, America’s two-party political system is patterned after England’s Labor (Liberal) and Conservative parties.

But for as long as I’ve been around (about three-quarters of a century) and much longer; the foundation of America’s democracy has been a multi-lateral exchange of ideas and debates, with political entities working together instead of against each other. It hasn’t always worked efficiently, but I can remember when our elected officials at least made an earnest effort to cross aisles.

You might say this is a roundabout way to encourage people to “vote no” on Proposition 2. In doing so, we would retain rank-choice voting that, through an open primary, allows voters to choose their candidate, regardless of political affiliation.

Alaska has a lot of independent thinkers.

Granted, In November, our conservative voters will graciously give Donald Trump Alaska’s three electoral votes, as they have before. But down-ballot, why don’t we take a fresh new look at our longstanding political bifurcation? Yes, we will generally vote for a Democrat or Republican. But perhaps we will look a bit deeper into the qualities that could make those candidates effective elected officials.

Frank E. Baker is a lifelong Alaskan and freelance writer who lives in Eagle River.

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