I received my absentee ballot a few days ago and voted for Nader. Unless some very fundamental changes are made the US is headed for disaster, and neither parties seem to be willing to address that. Then again, the people aren't aware of it themselves, so what do you expect. The only way this country can salvage itself is through the legitimization of third-party alternatives, and that will never happen unless people
start voting for those alternatives instead of whining about how X candidate "will never win." That's not the point.
Was my vote for Nader a vote for Bush? Absolutely not, since if it weren't for third-parties I wouldn't vote at all. Kerry never had my vote in the first place. Bush didn't start America's plunge, he just accelerated it. Now, you can die a slow, agonizing death with a the democrats, get it over with in a blazing fury with the republicans, or just vote for the good guy. And so I did, and my conscious is clear.
The only difference I see between republicans and democrats is that one is direct about screwing you over, and the other more cunning. Keep in mind that under Clinton:
- 1.2 million Iraqis died
- Third-world economics were destroyed through neo-liberal reforms
- The 1996 telecommunications law was established, which led to the consolidation and conglomeration of media
- The 1996 Anti-Terrorism law was enacted, a precursor to the Patriot Act (and he didn't even require a 9/11 to do it!)
- Osama Bin Ladin was given legitimacy by bombing Sudan's largest medicine factory (possibly causing thousands of deaths as a consequnce of the medicine shortage that was created), in order to divert attention from his sexual exploits
Not to mention neither candidate is wiling to reconsider their blind support of Israel.
Years ago the abolitionist party was accused by the whigs of spoiling the election, and allowing the (then pro-slavery) democrats to win.
