I’m not in favor of single-issue voting. Pick any issue you that you think is of utmost importance. If you found a candidate who would make great strides on that one issue but would otherwise make horrible decisions on all other issues, do you really think that person would be a good leader? What if, on top of all of that, that person had a terrible character? What if they lied and said horrible things about other people and used their political office for their own gain? Would advancing one issue that you see as being more important than all others really be worth it?
There are people who vote based on one issue. I hear most often about abortion being the single issue that moves a voter to pick a particular candidate. Gun control also inspires some people to pledge that they will only vote for candidates that mirror their beliefs. I understand feeling strongly about particular issues. I just believe that blindly voting for candidates based on their stance on just one issue can result in poor leadership.
But if there’s one issue that determines your vote, it should be climate change.
The evidence is clear: We are facing a climate crisis. And while some people believe it’s too late to fix things, others are more optimistic. If we are going to change things, we need to be realistic: Individual decisions matter, but the biggest contributors to climate change are corporations, and since corporations tend to value short-term profit, we need leaders who will set laws that will favor wise environmental choices, even at the expense of short-term gain. We need public policy to guide the way.
And if we don’t do anything about the climate crisis, no other pet issues will matter. The likelihood of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, and extreme heat, will increase. More people will be displaced due to climate change. The warming climate will have a negative impact on biodiversity. And, just focusing on the U.S. economy alone, the effects of climate change will cost billions of dollars. One of the more pessimistic scenarios predicts “a high likelihood of human civilization coming to an end” by 2050 if we cannot stop climate change.
Beside such scenarios, any other single issue fades in terms of its significance.
Please don’t be a single-issue voter.
I want to return to what I said at the outset: I don’t believe in single-issue voting. The world is too complex for us to hold one issue up as the sole reason to vote for or against a candidate. I am deeply troubled by the notion of electing a morally repugnant individual simply because that person will support our pet issue. But if you disagree with me, if you feel that sometimes you have to put one issue above all others, then make it climate change. No other issue impacts so many different aspects of life. And if we don’t act now, it may be too late.