On August 25th, Katherine Gehl, Founder of the Institute for Political Innovation, spoke at the Convention on Founding Principles. Katherine outlined her view on the crisis in our political system and how America could create a pathway forward where “our best days are ahead.”
“I’m not saying November 3rd isn’t consequential, it is. But I will tell anyone, regardless of the side they’re on, the same thing. No matter who is elected President on November 3rd, we won’t be on a trajectory to our very brightest days ahead because on November 4th, the political system that’s breaking our republic, that’s breaking us in two, will remain.”
“…Most of us are still in love, in love with America…with the possibility of these United States of America, imperfect yet striving. What should we do with this love of our breaking country. Let’s put it to work….”
“The only thing each party has to do to win is to convince the average voter to choose them as the lesser of two evils. The one thing neither party needs to do to win is to deliver results for the citizens, results in the public interest writ large….”
“We must change our dysfunctional election system. Which brings us right to Founding Principles, to our Constitution. Article I gives each state the power to make all the rules about their state’s congressional elections. Let’s use that power to solve our problem. Let’s change the rules of how we vote by implementing a system called Final Five Voting. Final Five Voting is a combination of open top five primaries and ranked choice voting general elections. Under this system, party primaries will no longer create a proverbial eye of the needle through which no problem solving politician could ever hope to pass. Voters for new challengers and new ideas won’t waste their votes or “spoil” the election. And the general election will be more important than the primary, as it should be. Change the rules of how we vote, thus change the incentives and change the results we get from Washington, D.C.
I like to call it free market politics. Delivering the best of what healthy free markets promise: innovation, results and accountability. Let’s not forget that the last time we had a balanced budget was…when both parties felt the competitive pressure from Ross Perot’s deficit focused 19% of the electorate. Competition delivers progress….”
You can watch Katherine’s full remarks:
Join us on Sunday, October 4th at 7 pm ET for a zoom conversation with Katherine Gehl as we explore The Politics Industry
