And this year, a Presidential year, should find me all fired up. But about what, exactly? The chance to spend four years behind the Bush? Or the opportunity to get Gored? Get real.

Fact is, although I've always been a passionate and partisan Democrat, this year, for the first time ever, I can't really find the discernable difference between the top of the national tickets that makes my choice seem important. That's why, for the first time in my life, I'm endorsing and voting for a third party candidate for President of the United States.

Ralph Nader is running for President on the Green Party ticket. It looks like he's going to be able to negotiate the difficult ballot access process in about 40 states. If yours turns out to be one of them, I hope you take a close look at what he's about, and I hope you vote for him. Why?

Well, not to elect him to the White House. Let's face it, folks, the game is fixed. It's gonna be Algore or Dubbelyah for Prez. Nope, a vote for Nader isn't about electing a President. And if you really think one of those other two is actually going to do something that makes an actual difference in your actual life, you should probably vote for him. But you should also probably take a long look at your thoughts, because you're only fooling yourself.

No, voting for Ralph Nader is voting for what he represents in the electoral system. What's that, you ask? Well, start with someone whose skepticism about the corporate domination of our political and ecomonic system has made him the foremost spokesman for consumer advocacy in America. Hell, Ralph is practically the founder of consumer advocacy in America. Then think about what the phrase "Nader's Raiders" means in the halls of political power. For decades, Nader's youthful minions haven't just "worked within the system," they've actually made the system work for consumers, workers and other people traditionally disenfranchised by the corporate power brokers. The ***Public Citizen organization, another Nader offshoot, has been at the center of political reform from day one. One of the most effective arms of the enviromental movement in this country is the web of Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) that stem directly from Nader's activism. Ralph Nader has organized for real change around real issues that affect real peoples lives longer, harder and more effectively than anyone who has ever run for President of the United States in my lifetime, maybe in US history.

But isn't going third party "throwing away" your vote? Well, isn't voting for somebody who you don't really expect to do a damn thing for you "throwing away" your vote? Repulicrats and Demublicans count on you falling for the fiction that this is a two party system, and that they're the only parties that count. Read the Constitution. They aren't there. There was a reason for that, folks.

If Ralph Nader can pull 5% of the national vote, next time around the Greens will get a piece of the public financing pie, which will give them the resources to start building a real national party, with viable candidates for Congress and legislatures and other places where they can present a real challenge to the corporatist status quo and start to achieve the kinds of reforms that will really matter to people who need decent incomes, universal health care, a restoration of civil liberties and other things that matter. Your vote can be part of that 5%. It should be.

Shock the system. Vote for Ralph Nader.


(DJ Johnson is, as soon as his heart rate subsides a bit, probably going to tag this with a disclaimer. It'll probably be funny. It'll probably be true, too. I'm not speaking for him, or Cosmik, or anybody but my own private self. You should vote for Nader anyway. - Shaun Dale)


(Well, now I can't think of anything to write! - DJ Johnson)


© 2000 - Shaun Dale