Bad elections start in primaries

I would like to provide an alternative perspective to reader Ted Zukowski’s letter, “Stickers show who’s not to blame.”

He argues that the voters who chose Obama are to blame for “wealth redistribution” and “making the less fortunate addicted to government and its welfare state of entitlements.”

The blame for what will occur in the next four years deserves to be equally placed on Republican voters. After all, it was the voters in the Republican primaries and caucuses across the country that put Mitt Romney on the ballot against the president.

For the past two elections, Republicans have destroyed what appeared to be centrist candidates, forcing them to take extreme positions in order to win the nomination, only to then have to defend those unpopular positions in a general election.

If a Republican nominee had simply said that they would raise taxes on the rich (which the Republicans in Congress did anyway) AND cut spending, they would have walked all the way into the White House. Instead, the majority of voters, who desire spending cuts and increased taxes on the wealthy, preferred President Obama, who said he would do both, even though he has no record of ever cutting spending.

Republican voters, and all voters for that matter, need to reconsider how they vote in primary elections by giving voters better candidates to choose from. Then, perhaps you will see real progress and more importantly responsibility from both parties in our political system.

So, Mr. Zukowski, please take a look in the mirror and consider who your party nominated before placing blame.

Thomas J. Kuhn

Gurnee