The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘You have to vote’ for change you want
Justin Paglino is all about supporting democracy and making sure voters can choose the candidate who best represents them.
Too often, he said, Democrats and Republicans fail to offer an alternative vision.
As the Green Party candidate in the 3rd District congressional race, facing 15-term Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and Republican Margaret Streicker, Paglino is offering himself as a viable choice for those turned off by the entrenched parties.
“I feel the Democratic Party, despite being a ‘major party,’ fails to represent the majority opinion on some of the most important issues of our time,” said Paglino, a former Democrat who worked in medical research before becoming a full-time activist.
As for Republicans, “I think they have nothing to offer the disadvantaged,” he said.
“My campaign slogan is, ‘If you want something, you have to vote for it,’” Paglino, 47, of Guilford, said.
“Most Americans want
Medicare for All. Most Americans want to reduce the Pentagon budget,” he said. “Most Americans favor a carbon tax … but only a minority of members of Congress share these policies and that’s a problem.
“My diagnosis for the cause of this problem is the two-party system because with the spoiler effect people feel compelled to vote for candidates who don’t really represent all their values,” he said. “They feel they’re given two choices and they have to pick the one they dislike the least.”
The spoiler effect occurs when a third-party candidate draws votes away from the candidate who is most similar, giving the victory to the candidate on the other end of the political spectrum. Voters for a third-party candidate may take votes away from the major party candidate who is most like them.
Ralph Nader, the Green Party candidate for president in 2000, won 97,488 votes in Florida and has been seen as the reason Republican George W. Bush won the presidency. Bush, after a contentious