I Think We Need Another Choice

I think we need a third political party. Maybe one that only needs to be around long enough to help fix the government.

At first, I thought we needed somebody in the middle. That wasn't quite what I meant. I want a different choice. People who can work together, respect our rights, and help us have a good life.

I'm tired of the fighting. I'm tired of watching people celebrate something that makes life worse for other Americans because they voted differently.

We still have to live here together.

Think about winning an argument with your husband or wife. You got your way. They're miserable. How much are you enjoying that victory? You still love them. You still have a life to figure out together.

I believe a woman should make her own decision about a pregnancy. I understand that some people sincerely believe abortion ends a person's life. I can see why they feel that strongly and still believe the decision belongs to her. She can talk to her family, her doctor, her faith community. Ultimately, she decides.

Guns are something I've had to reconsider.

I went into the mountains with people who treated me like family. We shot together. I learned about the weapons and how much they meant to their families. Afterward, I looked up some of the things I'd been saying. There was a lot I hadn't understood.

I still have concerns about gun violence. I also understand more than I did before. Those people gave me a reason to listen.

I would vote for the right Republican. I've said that before, and I mean it. I want to be able to recognize a good idea without checking whether I'm allowed to like the person who had it.

A third party would have to earn my trust, too. Its first job would be changing some of the rules that keep bringing us back here.

I'd support a defined package of constitutional amendments, along with changes we can make through ordinary legislation. We can keep what protects us and improve what isn't working. I'd start with how we vote, how other candidates get a fair chance, and what happens when somebody abuses public office.

I wonder how much of what gets in the way is that neither party wants to let the other one take credit. If something would help the country but give the other side a win, can we still get it done?

Maybe a diehard Republican or Democrat would be more willing to support an amendment if a third party went to both parties and asked them to help write it.

Get them involved while there's still something to decide. Let them argue over the language, point out problems, and help figure out what would work.

Republicans could take credit for their part. Democrats could take credit for theirs. I'd be fine with everybody taking some fucking credit if we got something worthwhile done.

We'd need people in Congress and the states willing to do that work. Winning the White House wouldn't be enough.

Maybe this third party could help get those changes through and eventually become less necessary. If it left us with fairer elections and a government that worked better, I'd call that a success.

I think the time might be now.

We have to give a third candidate a realistic chance to win. People need to be able to vote for the person they want without being afraid they'll help elect the person they want least.

Then there's the money.

I want to undo Citizens United and change the other rules that let wealth buy so much political influence.

I've wondered whether the most one person could contribute should be tied to what someone earns for a set number of hours at minimum wage. The same limit for everyone eligible to contribute. We'd have to address spending outside the campaigns, too, and make sure people with nothing left to give still have a voice.

Why should your financial situation determine how much attention your government pays to you?

I'd want to know who enforces these rules. What happens when the person breaking them has powerful friends? What happens when it's somebody I voted for? The rules have to apply to them, too.

I remember a man who pumped gas down the street owning a nice house around Bricktown and Sandy Point in New Jersey, not far from the ocean. A man doing ordinary work owned a home.

I remember households living on one income. There were things wrong with that time. I know that. I want more people to have that kind of security now. A place to live and enough left over to enjoy their lives.

For most of my adult life, it has felt like we elect one group to undo what the last group did. Then we do it again. We fight with each other through all of it, and people are still trying to figure out how to afford a place to live.

I think we need another New Deal. We need to figure out what it would take for ordinary people to build a good life today.

But we've got to fix the fucking government. We need a better government. One that answers to us and can keep doing useful work beyond the next election.

People need help while we're making those changes. They can't put their lives on hold until we get the rules right.

I get angry about wealth. I know I do.

I drive past an enormous house with acres around it and views in every direction, and I think about families crowded into whatever space they can afford. I don't know the owner's circumstances. I know how it makes me feel.

That house would bother me a hell of a lot less if everybody had a safe place to live, enough to eat, and a chance to get ahead.

People should have a chance to get better. Learn something. Find something they can do and have a life they enjoy.

Nicole and I ran a childcare center. We cared for children who needed different things from us. I've sat beside a child and breathed with them. Sometimes you have to stay with somebody while they figure out what they can do next.

Adults need that sometimes, too.

I think about the people who greet you at a store. There's value in welcoming somebody, noticing they need help, making their day a little easier. One person might be able to produce more than another. We ought to help people find what they can do and give them a chance to do it.

People who can't work still belong and still deserve care.

If you have more ability, more resources, more power, I think you have a responsibility to help make something possible for somebody else.

That's why I keep coming back to AI.

I love this technology. I've been waiting for it since I was a kid watching Star Trek. I can ask questions, learn things, work on books, and try ideas I wouldn't have known how to attempt before.

I want more people to have that opportunity. I want us to think about what happens as the technology takes on more of the work.

If we can produce what we need with fewer hours, could people work less and still have a decent income? Spend more time with their children? Learn something because they're interested in it? Care for somebody? Enjoy being alive?

Those are things I want progress to give us.

AI depends on people and the resources of our communities. I want us to have a share in the benefits. Maybe a public stake, a share of the returns, access people can afford. We should be figuring out how to make that work. We'd still need to protect people from abuse.

If the machines can do more, why should people have less security?

We should be working on that now. I don't want us waiting until people lose their livelihoods to begin arguing about whether we owe them a future.

I've run businesses. I've worried about payroll and bills. I know caring about something doesn't pay for it. We'd have to work out the costs and change what wasn't working.

I also know we can spend an awful lot of time telling each other why something won't work before we put much effort into finding something that will.

I'd want this third party to listen, admit mistakes, and change course when the results weren't good enough.

I'd have to do those things myself.

Would you support a change that made elections fairer if your own party lost an advantage? Could you give somebody credit for helping the country when you couldn't stand them? What would you want this different choice to make possible?

I want to hear the answers.

I care about my family. I care about my community and this country. I care about what happens to people I'll never meet.

I think about the descendants I may have someday. Children I don't even know yet, who may live long after I'm gone. I love them anyway.

I feel the same about yours.

I want us to leave them a country where they can have a good life. I'd like us to spend a lot more of our time figuring out how.