Finally! Students here at Fairfield have a presidential candidate from Connecticut we can actually care about!
Of course I’m not talking about Joe Lieberman, the conservative, stuffy senator who leads futile crusades against violent video games and recently pulled out of the Democratic race. The man I’m talking about is Ralph Nader, the most principled, honest and independent candidate in the 2004 race. Nader deserves your vote, and here’s why.
First off, I’d like to help dispel the lie that Nader’s 2000 candidacy for president “cost” Al Gore the election. Here’s a simple fact: Al Gore cost Al Gore the election. Al Gore could not defeat the bumbling governor from Texas, George W. Bush. Al Gore could not win his home state. Al Gore performed terribly in the debates. And as far as Florida goes, Democrats should point the finger at any number of people or things that really did cost Gore Florida (the “butterfly” ballot, Katherine Harris, Jeb Bush and the U.S. Supreme Court) before setting their sights on Nader.
Furthermore, to presume that Gore was entitled to Nader’s votes is patently absurd. The reason I look forward to voting for Nader is because he is the only presidential candidate that I can really believe in. Otherwise, I wouldn’t vote, because the Democratic and Republican parties are dominated by money and corporate interests.
And if you think the Democratic party is one of championing civil rights and idealistic opposition to war, here are a few more facts. The Democrats rolled over and played dead when Bush pressed for a war in Iraq. They did the same when Bush nominated John Ashcroft, a dangerous conservative fanatic, as his attorney general. They did the same with the passage of the Patriot Act, legislation that Dr. Don Greenberg of Fairfield’s politics department called “hateful” and “dangerous.” They did the same when Bush shoved enormous tax cuts for the wealthy down the throats of the American people.
Why? The simple fact is the Democrats are as beholden to special interests and money as much as the Republicans are. Of course, I’m not saying there aren’t any differences between the two parties, but as long as they both keep selling elections to corporate interests and thereby subverting democracy, whatever differences remain don’t matter.
President Ralph Nader would build an international coalition to get the U.S. out of Iraq. He would crack down on corporate crime and excess that made disasters like Enron and Tyco possible. He would work to protect workers from being victimized by employers. He would develop fair taxes, not taxes that benefit the rich and no one else. He would make healthcare available to all Americans, much like the programs that already exist in most other western democracies.
So if you are the kind of person who loves peace, economic prosperity(for all Americans, not just the rich), civil rights and clean air, there is no choice when it comes to voting for president this year. Your only choice is Ralph Nader.
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