A radio host asked me on the air last month what I thought of a voting reform known as “Open Primaries.”  I didn’t have enough knowledge at the time to comment one way or another, but I followed up with some research and herewith offer to continue the discussion.

As I understand it, the ‘open primary’ that was referenced would place all candidates for an office on the same primary ballot and allow all voters to cast ballots in the primary, regardless of the voters’ or the candidates’ party affiliations.  The top two candidates in the primary would advance to the general election.  City elections in Massachusetts, which are non-partisan, are held in this way with a ‘preliminary election’ whenever more than two candidates for the same office secure a place on the ballot.  The ‘Open Primaries’ reform would amend the Commonwealth’s election laws so that races which are presently partisan would be administered in the same manner.

The ringing phone abruptly woke me up on a January morning in 2008.  I did not recognize the Great Barrington area phone number showing on the display as I hit the answer button.  I am recalling a conversation that took place three years ago because now at the close of 2010 there have been some  recent discussions within the Green-Rainbow Party about advocating for non-profit single-payer public health insurance.

“Hello.”

“What is Dennis Kucinich going to do to give us single payer health care?” a brusque, somewhat raspy, imperious male voice belted out from the other end of the line, prefacing the words with no greeting or introduction.

Briefly taken aback and quickly woken up, I realized that the press release I had issued about the Kucinich For President office that I had opened in Lenox (back in that Democratic Party presidential primary winter) must have been published, prompting the call.  The press release had provided my phone number as contact for the office.

The conversation that followed back then has provided me with additional insight into why the United States still does not have the kind of public/non-profit health insurance system that virtually every other wealthy democracy provides.  This, in turn, has assisted me in thinking about what the Green-Rainbow Party can do now, as we approach 2011 and future elections to promote quality public health insurance.

In my opinion, the effort is not primarily about  preparing more fact sheets to assist legislators and voters in changing their minds.  Nor is it in holding more round table discussions or rallies.  Our members and candidates are often part of these efforts, but there are plenty of other groups who have taken the lead on those actions.  The Green-Rainbow Party plays secondary roles in these efforts.

The leadership that we can provide is to grow our political power by increasing membership, fielding more candidates, and securing more partisan votes in favor of politics and policy-making that is free from the influence of corporate contributions, including of course freedom from the dictates of those contributions from the health insurance industry that the two ruling parties gladly accept.