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Opening Arguments

Ballot blues

Indiana is among the states with the toughest ballot-access requirements for third parties and independent candidates, a fact discussed here a few times. Virginia also belongs to that elite group, with requirements that make it tough even on major-party establishment types, and Rick Perry failed to get enough valid signatures to have his name put on the ballot. So he's suing the state election board:

In other words, the Supremes specifically refused to say how demanding the state could be in setting qualifications for petition circulators. The only rule they laid down was that you can't limit the group to registered voters; at the very least, both registered voters and people eligible to register must be permitted, which is what Virginia does. The next step beyond that is to ask whether the state can constitutionally limit circulators to just those two groups or whether they have to let any U.S. resident be a circulator so long as they're willing to provide an address at which the secretary of state can reach them. That's what Perry's arguing here; obviously, he would have loved to be able to ship volunteers from Texas into Virginia and have them circulate petitions instead of wasting time recruiting local supporters to do it for him.

As that paragraph suggests and the rest of the article makes clear, Perry raises a valid constitutional point, and whether courts might agree with him is very much an open question. And he's certainly got the moral high grown. States should be encouraging political participation, not colluding with the two major parties to keep the riffraff out.

Even so, doesn't the failure say something about Perry's fitness for the presidency? However inappropriate the access requirements were, they were the same for everybody. The playing field was level, and everybody knew the rules. Other candidates and their teams got enough signatures. Perry and his team did not. Even if someone is absolutely right when he complains, say, that the P.T. requirements for Army basic training are waaaaay too tough (as, come to think of it, I did), it still says something about him when he comes in dead last in the mile run.

Newt Gingrich disn't make the cut, either. But at least he can point to his "unconventional campaign," which  can't be bothered with such amenities as a professional staff and plenty of petition carriers. Perry has a ton of money and a huge staff, including earlier Gingrich defectors. What's his excuse?

Comments

Tim Zank
Wed, 12/28/2011 - 4:20pm

Must be one hell of a hurdle in Virginia, the only two that qualified have been professional candidates running for President for 5 years or more.

littlejohn
Wed, 12/28/2011 - 5:28pm

Unless someone else gets into the campaign, it's probably moot anyway. I don't think Perry has any chance of getting the nomination, and Gingrich has very little chance of beating Romney. If you plan to vote Republican, start learning to like the architect of Obamacare, gay marriage and gun control. Have fun this November.

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