The Wake

Happy presidential election, college liberal –- this is your shining moment! Soon you will cast your hard-earned vote and oust that tyrant from his high throne. I can see the puffs of smoke streaming from your ears when you think about Dubya…take it easy! I know he waged war against a random country, proclaiming victory overseas while flag-draped coffins kept coming back home. If that weren’t enough, he has demonized America in the eyes of many of our allies, sounding a “with us or against us” mantra all the while.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t take another four years of Bush!

That’s why I’m voting for a candidate that wants our troops out of Iraq! I’m supporting someone who advocates health care for every American! Come November, I’m voting for someone who will fight to keep small farmers in business!

That’s right, folks. I’m voting Ralph Nader! Who’s with me?

Wait, what do you mean, I can’t vote for Nader?

Let’s stop for a second and look at three of the college liberal’s favorite arguments against Nader:

A vote for Nader is a vote for Bush.

Ooh, the big one. Well, how many Nader backers would vote, period, if he weren’t running? And who says they’d vote for Kerry instead of, say, the Green Party or Socialist candidate? Third-party candidates encourage outsiders to vote for people who distance themselves from mainstream politics. Simply put, a vote is a vote. No candidate should be accused of siphoning votes from another because there is no way to tell what would have happened had that candidate not run. This kind of thinking keeps the two-party system alive and kicking. Which brings us tonumber two:

Sure, the two-party system sucks, but this isn’t the year to change it.

Well, when will that elusive year finally come, college liberal? Changing our country’s political framework is a daunting task indeed, and a long one! How long are we supposed to keep holding our noses when we vote? It is Nader, not Kerry, whose views best represent liberal America. Special interests keep Kerry centrist, supporting right-wing causes like the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Patriot Act. Nader’s independence allows him freedom to speak his mind and advance “idealistic” principles like universal health care and fair trade, popular causes that Kerry has ignored during his campaign.

Simply put, if we’re going to change the system, we’ve got to start now by voting for candidates we actually like!

Oh, you’re just wasting your vote!

OK, so as I’m writing this piece, Nader’s chances of winning aren’t looking too good. That doesn’t mean we can’t influence the election’s outcome. If Kerry sees too much liberal support going to Nader, he’ll be forced to change his message to attract more voters. This could mean a quicker end to the bloodbath in Iraq, more fair-trade policies that disable free-wheelin’ deals like NAFTA (and its evil twin, the still-pending Central American Free Trade Agreement) and even jumpstart the universal health-care movement.

But do what you will, college liberal. I know you feel like you have to vote for Kerry, if only because “he’s not Bush.” But 30 years from now, when your nose-ring scar has healed, your son has died honorably in Iraq and two talking heads still run the presidential election, will you want your 2004 vote back? How long will you keep biting your tongue?