Pledges, Loyalty Oaths and Contracts –

Without appeasing the will of their party's state and county executive committees, Republican and Democratic candidates know that, despite what merit they may bring to a political campaign, they will never rise above being fringe participants. And how do you signal to the party bosses that you are ready to be a “team player”? Well you do it by signing whatever party pledge, loyalty oath or contract they stick in front of you. In the 2004 U.S. Senate race, both Mel Martinez and Bill McCollum on the Republican side signed a party pledge as well as Betty Castor and Peter Deutsch on the Democrats side. The fact that these four powerful political figures were willing to negotiate away their First Amendment rights behind closed party doors demonstrates clearly that they are just cogs in a much larger political super-structure. What exactly did the pledges signed by these four U.S. Senate candidates say? How were they approached and did any candidate initially refuse? Were all four pledges worded the same way or did certain candidates have special clauses applied to them? What was the stated penalty for not signing? Why aren’t these pledges a public record?

These party loyalty oaths, pledges and contracts also serve a secondary purpose – to prohibit a candidate from “throwing mud” at his fellow party member during a primary election or from “throwing mud” at the party nominee during a general election. Who knows more about an opponent’s voting record, past or secretive alliances or criminal and ethical background than a fellow inner party member. We, the voting public, have a vital interest in knowing what pledges, loyalty oaths or contracts a candidate has signed when that candidate is to appear on our ballot, either at a primary or general election.

For example, Mel Martinez broke his promise that he made to the voters of Florida when he campaigned against amnesty, then once in office he promoted an amnesty bill which he has since vehemently defended. Maybe the private party pledge Mel signed required him to vote however the Republican party elite told him to vote on immigration issues and Mel being a “man of honor” just couldn’t break his word. We the voting public have a right to know.

Qualifying to be a candidate should be done by the Supervisor of Elections or Secretary of State as stipulated by the Florida Election Code without any after the fact, inner party pseudo-qualifications such as signing party pledges, loyalty oaths or contracts that are currently in use by the Democrats and Republicans. Political parties do have First Amendment freedom of association rights but these rights would in no way be infringed upon by making these pledges/loyalty oaths/contracts outlawed or at the very least public records, just like the courts have upheld that a candidate as well as a political party must publicly disclose their contributions and expenditures periodically throughout a campaign.

In the upcoming election, contact the campaign of every candidate who has signed a party pledge, loyalty oath or contract and ask to get a copy of it. If you see the candidate in public, tell him or her that you won’t vote for them unless they publicly disclose what party pledge, loyalty oath or contract they have signed. We Americans have distanced ourselves from politicians because we believe them all to be corrupt, yet in doing so we have made matters worse. Now instead of serving our interests, the norm for our politicians is to make secret deals and alliances behind closed party doors and all we, the voting public, get is the fluff and theatrics we are now being inundated with out on the campaign trail.