Last election, I waffled for a long time between voting for Al Gore or Ralph Nader. I was drawn to Gore because I wanted my vote 'to count' and I was having trouble breaking out of the hood that blinds us to the realities of our current "two-party" system. I then realized that both the Democrats and Republicans are funded by the same companies and, at the time, were both centrist governments. Remember that Bush and Gore said pretty much the same thing during their campaign, with Bush talking about staying out of such ventures as "nation building" and wotnot.
So I had woken up to the farce that is the two-party option in American politics but was still considering voting for Gore simply to help ensure that Bush didn't get elected. I felt that Bush was an emotional child without any entitlement for his position and not even a sense of what it takes to run the nation in this day and age. It just didn't feel right.
Then I realized that my vote should be used to express my opinion regarding who I think the best candidate is (or I could use the write in option to vote for who I think would best lead the country). A vote isn't to be used to elect someone you don't really have faith in, I told myself, just in order to oppose a different candidate. It seemed a violation of the sanctity of a vote and even a bit unfair. Voting is a popularity contest, and giving votes to someone you don't like isn't playing by the rules.
So I voted for Nader. I didn't have the integrity to research other third party candidates (although I knew I didn't want to vote for Buchanan) and I should have done a bit more followup on Harry Browne and the Libertarian party. But I didn't, and I voted for Nader. Gore was expected to win and even if Bush did, I figured I could live with it. I knew that my candidate wasn't going to win the election, but it felt good to vote for someone that I would be happy with if they did. And I knew that my vote did help advance the growth and involvement of 3rd parties, an essential part of the process of reforming our current system. If everyone who didn't vote spread their votes over the 3rd party candidates, we'd have a true multi-party system in no time.
Now we are faced with an even greater dilemma. We now know how horrible a president Bush is: neo-imperial unilateral expansionism riding a wave of massive military buildup with the stated intention of brandishing it as a cornerstone of foreign policy, civil liberties under assault, massive deficits and cuts in government programs to pay for a tax cut for the richest minority of the nation (which otherwise could be used to pay for the military buildup), the obvious religiousification of the government. This is not a good situation.
So 2004 is a big deal. It shouldn't be hard to beat Bush, as long as someone isn't afraid to call a spade a spade. The only thing the incumbent has going for it is the ability to twist the opposition into a corner by arguing if anyone opposes them, they are in cahoots with terrorists, etc., kind of like they tried to demonize opposition to the war as support for Saddam. As if.
But I won't support someone like Daschle or Kerry, dolts without an ounce of integrity. Daschle is a pathetic whiny partisan bitch and Kerry is a spineless dweeb without any independent principle. We need someone like Paul Wellstone, rest his soul.
As it stands, I'll probably vote Libertarian or Green this time around, unless a Democrat I can believe in stands up and stomps. I've changed my opinion on the use of a vote though. A vote isn't just for voting for someone, its a powerful tool that can be used to vote against someone too. I think its sad that we don't have candidates appealing enough to vote for or incumbents so horrible we need to abandon hopes of voting who we believe in in order to get them out of office, but voting your conscience reserves the right to use one's vote in whatever manner needed to ensure the best possible for the country.
It's never to early to start talking about these things. It will be very very important that people vote in the next election. Start reminding people how far Bush has brought us from the country we all believe in. The United States is not about locking up citizens without trial, is not about invading countries in order to establish a military precendent, is not about further developing a nuclear arsenal, is not about support research into chemical and biological weapons, is not about cutting funds for education and health care in order to fund the largest military buildup in the history of humanity, is not about cutting taxes for the wealthy when running massive deficits (although I'd generally agree that if one cuts taxes, those who pay the most should get a generous portion of the return), is not about granting government positions to convicted criminals and political scum, is not about selling its soul to the highest bidder.
We might be Idawhores around these parts, but the nation is not a crank slut. Time to slap that dirty dealer in the White House down.
Posted by Nutrimentia at April 27, 2003 08:14 PM | TrackBack