Kiner's Korner: Do Not Malign the One-Issue Voter

We have all heard of the one issue voter. This voter has been condemned and  maligned by some as being too myopic (and other more malevolent words as well). These one issue voters are people who believe so strongly in a moral issue, that it far surpasses all other issues in importance. This one issue is what they decide their vote on. This one issue, whatever it may be, is all that counts for them.

Some electors scoff at these one issue oriented voters. Since so many issues affect our lives, they contend, consideration of a candidate should be based on more than just one issue. I disagree. A voter with a strong moral commitment to a particular issue, and who believes that one issue overrides all others in importance, must satisfy his/her conscience. One has a moral responsibility to do just that.

In this voter, we are looking at someone who genuinely cares enough to put everything on the line for that one belief. That issue might be "right to life", or perhaps the issue of capital punishment. You don't have to be a right wing conservative fanatic to say, "yes, I do respect life, and the candidate that I choose to elect must also support that principle".

People who vote for one party or another because of a belief that the entire party's candidates reflect their views are also one issue voters All Republicans are.........., or all Democrats are.......... is the standard fare for these particular voters. I can remember my father sitting at our kitchen table in Bridgeport and telling us in effect that FDR just about walked on water and that Democrats were responsible for getting us out of the Great Depression. To even mention the word "Republican" would bring a scowl to his face. As children we learned very quickly not to speak kindly of anyone of the Republican persuasion.

In the early 1980's, Archbishop John F. Whealon of Hartford very publicly changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. To the Archbishop, "right to life" was the sole issue that counted and he believed that Republicans were more in tuned to protecting life. I can remember meeting him and telling him that I was a Democrat who also believed in "right to life". The Archbishop was making a statement that satisfied his principles. This one issue meant more to him than anything else. In retrospect, I have to say that he was following his conscience. You cannot malign a voter for that. But I guess that I approached him at the wrong time because my six year old daughter, Melanie, had just scolded him for not letting girls serve as altar girls. That one-two punch was a little too much for the Archbishop to sustain first thing on a Sunday morning.

Voters will be looking at candidates who do have a social conscience. Desiring  to  feed the hungry, protecting the weak, educating our children, and protecting our fragile environment are strengths that many of us look for in a candidate.

When Election Day comes around, what will you, the voter, look for in a candidate? Whatever your reasons, the important thing is that you express your beliefs by casting your ballot on that first Tuesday, after the first Monday in November.