Why I'm Voting for Peter Sonski for President
Why I'm Casting a Protest Vote for the American Solidarity Party In 2024
In this election, Americans are faced with a horrible choice in the two major party nominees for President. That horribleness was brought home in the recent debate. I see no reason to rehash why both candidates are unfit. It’s a kind of negativity that we have too much of.
Rather I’m writing to explain my vote and an option that many Americans may not be aware of. I will be voting for a candidate who I admit has no practical chance of being elected. I will be voting for the ticket of Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak, the nominees of the American Solidarity Party. (ASP)
Two Reasons for Rejecting the Binary
Before explaining why I’m voting for Sonski, I do want to offer two reasons for not choosing between them despite the mass social pressure to do so.
First of all, there’s the problem that choosing the lesser of two evils assumes a lot of knowledge we don’t have. American politics is a Newtonian exercise. For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. This election is not the be-all and end-all of American politics despite what politicians would have you believe.
Eiher Biden or Trump will face a second midterm during which political parties historically suffer major losses in Congress. If you’re more bothered by the lawless cultishness of the Republican populists or if you’re more bothered by the high-handed progressive policies of the Democrats, it’s understandable to pick the poison you find least distasteful, but know that whoever is defeated in 2024 will likely win the mid-terms in 2026 and the Presidency in 2028 only with a much larger majority than whoever wins 2024 in will.
Secondly, I don’t want to waste my vote. In most cases, if you view both candidates as unfit and bad for the country and vote for one anyway, you are wasting your vote. We live under the Electoral College and due to the extreme polarization, in most states, the outcome is not in doubt. If you live in one of the four or five true swing states or in Nebraska’s 2nd District, you might legitimately question whether you should join fellow citizens to produce the least bad option.
But for the rest of us? It doesn’t matter. I live in Idaho, Mr. Trump will carry my state and it’s four electoral votes no matter how I vote. If I were to act as if my vote had any effect on the outcome, it would be evidence of a massive misunderstanding of how the system worked.
I’d argue that if you find both party’s nominees unqualified and unacceptable, the only vote that’s not wasted is a vote for a third-party candidate.
Americans have long been dissatisfied with the options offered to them with interest in another option being in double digits for decades and crossing fifty percent over the last few years. The major parties to satisfy or represent the best interests of the American people, they just want our compliance.
They don’t care that 62% of Americans want another option, as long as 99% of us comply, nod, and do the “sensible thing” and vote for the major parties. This also serves as a check on anyone decent who might run as a third-party candidate to offer Americans a better choice.
Running for an office is an expensive and emotionally draining experience at any level. Running People of quality, and character don’t want to waste their time charging windmills like Don Quixote. The more Americans show themselves willing to comply with horrible choices offered, the less likely that anyone of higher quality will choose to mount an uphill fight for the White House.
Voting for a third party is a rejection of two parties that have failed our country and only have emotional blackmail to offer to gain our support. Casting a vote for a third party signals that you’re not only unhappy with the current situation but willing to do something about it and support better options.
Why I’m Voting for Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak
There are several issues that motivate my support for the Sonski/Onak ticket.
First of all is the ticket’s commitment to the sanctity of human life. This is vital and a non-negotiable for me as a pro-lifer and social conservative. Even before it’s recent abandonment of the pro-life plank, the Republican Party and its current leadership has undercut the pro-life cause through its rhetoric and policies that have undermined the respect for the dignity of human life.
The Republicans have also had an abusive spouse relationship with social conservatives. In election years, they depend on the hard work and money of social conservatives, scaring reluctant Christians into compliance with prophecies of doom. If they win, they then govern according to the desires of the donor class or more recently, Trump’s fanbase, and then when the party loses, it’s social conservatism that gets blamed.
The ASP represents sincere respect for human life and dignity and respect for the importance of the family. It’s at the core at what the party believes and not just a talking point meant to attract a voting block. It is refreshing after decades of the Republicans’ cowardice and two-facedness on life and family issues.
The ASP does well to acknowledge the need for a secure border as well as to create a generous and orderly policy of processing applicants for asylum and welcoming refugees. For too long, this debate has been hampered by absolutists in both parties whose insistence on having everything their own way has led to inaction and untold unnecessary human misery while failing to solve the problem on the Southern border.
The ASP also stands for needed electoral reforms such as Ranked Choice Voting which are crucial to fixing the character of elections that lead to the triumph of loudest mouths that play to the lowest common denominator in politics.
Mr. Sonski’s twelve years of service as a local government elected official gives him far more practical experience in dealing with working in government than most third-party candidates this cycle. Add to that his service in the Marine, and his work at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Knights of Columbus, showing a clear record of service to others. In addition, he spent more than 12 years in the insurance industry, a year and a half as an assistant editor of the National Catholic Register, and even owned a cafe for a year. This reflects a breadth of experience at living actual life that few candidates can match.
Admittedly, this doesn’t add up to an ideal resume for a Presidential candidate, but Mr. Sonski is one of tens of thousands of Americans who with a learning curve and wise counsel could almost certainly do better than either of the two major contenders. And I appreciate his patriotism and willingness to put himself out there.
Reconciling with Disagreements
In voting for Mr. Sonski, I’m neither joining the ASP nor endorsing the entirety of his agenda.
There are many areas where I disagree with the ASP. For example, I am mildly supportive of the death penalty and do not see it as a conflict with pro-life convictions. I do have concerns about the process in which it is applied but would count myself as an opponent.
A more substantive disagreement can be found on their economic policy. I remain a strong fiscal conservative and find myself in disagreement with many tenets of their proposed economic policy. Though not in total disagreement. Their idea of “reordering the American economy” strikes me as overly ambitious and many of their new “safety net ideas” seem ill-advised at a time of record debt.
Even in some areas where I agree with the ASP’s goals, I question the prudence or the practicality of their specific policy proposals.
Yet, even in disagreeing with their proposals, I have to honor the thrust of their platform. It seeks to address the question of how we build a just society for all Americans. The major parties are too eaten up by tribalism, personality cults, and performative antics so absurd they would have made Jerry Springer blush. The platform is asking the right questions about our country and how we actually can come together to address the big problems we face. If you’re asking the wrong questions, you’re guaranteed to get the wrong answers.
I can certainly hope that in the future, the American Solidarity Party’s answers and approach become more refined or that the ASP sets the stage for another party to come up with better solutions and build a broader coalition to address the important problems our country faces. In the long-term, asking the right questions alone won’t be sufficient. But in 2024, given the state of affairs in our country, it’s enough to earn my vote.