The Only Proper Way to Vote (Hint: For the Party, Not the Person)

“I vote for the person, not the party,” people will proudly say ...

Selwyn Duke | July 13, 2026

“I vote for the person, not the party,” people will proudly say. This is considered the enlightened position, taken by “free thinking” Americans unconstrained by partisan politics. Why, they’re fair-minded: They judge every politician as an individual.

Here’s what no one says:

In general elections, this is often what demagogues want you to do.

In practice, though, voting for “the person” may just mean being distracted by personality — like a woman falling for a serial killer’s charms. More on that later.

As for my charms, I won’t seem to have any if I “tell you how to vote.” So I’ll just explain how I vote and why (and why you should vote that way, too!).

When people ask me how I could support _______ (fill in anyone you consider controversial), my answer is always the same:

Politics, famed German leader Otto von Bismarck noted, is “the art of the possible.” It’s not the art of “You get whatever you want, 100 percent, right now, no questions asked” — but of the possible. The late President Ronald Reagan, never accused of lacking conviction, understood this well.

“I have always figured that half a loaf is better than none,” he famously said, “and I know that in the democratic process, you’re not always going to get what you want.”

This was being pragmatic, but not unprincipled. After all, adhering to the truth that politics is “the art of the possible” is an exercise of principle itself.

And I certainly can relate. However “outside the box” you (if you’ve long read me) may consider me, well, multiply that by 10 and you’re probably closer to the truth. I’m best characterized, after all, as Mayberry meets the Middle Ages. This means, of course, that no matter what happens in an election, I never get even a decent percentage of what I want. (Oh, but if I were king ...)

As to this, my ideal president would be me. That, however, is not going to happen. Next on the list would be figures such as Alan Keyes or Pat Buchanan (who has aged out); that’s not going to happen, either. Of course, there might be some relatively attractive third-party candidate registering 1.5 percent in the polls, but he also won’t win. So what’s possible is the Republican or Democrat contender.

Next January, either the GOP or Democrats will control Congress; in 2029, a Democrat or Republican........

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