It doesn't matter whether he was right about NAFTA. You might as well have voted for yourself--a vote with no effect. There's a choice to be made between two non-perfect alternatives. It's a cowardly moral cop-out to refuse to make that choice.
And yet when I tell people that voting for a third party helps no one, they get mad, insulted, whatever. It's their right. Both candidates are flawed. Has there ever been a perfect candidate? Well, I haven't run yet, so no. C'mon. It's not rocket science.
John I agree and appreciate your admitting you voted for Nader. I liked what he was saying too. My vote for Hillary didn’t help her be elected. I am literally frightened to think tRmp could be re-elected. If that happens I’ll be afraid to leave my BLM sign in our yard.
Maybe I will just stop reading or watching any news or opinion until someone takes the oath of office in January
I voted for Nader also in 2000. It didn't end up mattering in the state I lived in at the time (Iowa), but I still regret it--especially when I heard many years later how purposefully destructive his whole effort really was designed to be. Like you, I will never vote third party again.
I voted for Perot. Because of NAFTA. And I still believe he was right. HeII, I'd vote for his corpse before I ever vote for another Republican (I switched Parties for good after 2004).
Voting in 2020 is analogous to wearing a mask in 2020...both are done not merely to protect our own self-interests, but to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Refusal to wear a mask is not an act of rugged individualism, it's a denial of science and fact. Refusal to vote is not an act of principle, it's an abdication of responsibility.
I wrote something (https://crosseye.medium.com/its-all-my-fault-e99ccef6e57c) in 2016 about being responsible for the worst of Bush Jr.'s actions because of my vote for Ralph Nader (here in CT where it was clearly not going to change anything.) And I still stand by that.
But someone I greatly respected -- Jon Barlow, a now-deceased, long-time music professor at Wesleyan -- argued that he was exercising his right not to vote. I don't remember his actual arguments when pressed on it, but I remember him telling us how he found a sympathetic ear in an émigré from Russia where voting was mandatory. There are reasons of conscience which might prevent one from voting.
Of course it you don't vote, your complaints about political situations won't get any sympathy from me.
I hope that Ranked Choice Voting (on the ballot in MA) will change this calculation in the future. You can vote for Nader as long as Gore is your second choice.
Ok, John. You’ve had me in your corner for some time, as you well know. But we’re cemented after today. “Empurpled Contempt” is utterly swag-worthy! :-)
The whole piece is spot on. My first vote, for which I will never forgive myself (though it did not make a difference, truly), was for John Anderson.
I proudly voted for Perot (I had worked for his old company at one time) because of NAFTA. No regrets. I think he was right.
As long as you were cool with Clinton getting elected, rock on. But Perot split the Republican ballot.
But at least Clinton didn't throw the country under the bus.
It doesn't matter whether he was right about NAFTA. You might as well have voted for yourself--a vote with no effect. There's a choice to be made between two non-perfect alternatives. It's a cowardly moral cop-out to refuse to make that choice.
And yet when I tell people that voting for a third party helps no one, they get mad, insulted, whatever. It's their right. Both candidates are flawed. Has there ever been a perfect candidate? Well, I haven't run yet, so no. C'mon. It's not rocket science.
There's a choice to be made between two non-perfect alternatives. It's a cowardly moral cop-out to refuse to make that choice.
John I agree and appreciate your admitting you voted for Nader. I liked what he was saying too. My vote for Hillary didn’t help her be elected. I am literally frightened to think tRmp could be re-elected. If that happens I’ll be afraid to leave my BLM sign in our yard.
Maybe I will just stop reading or watching any news or opinion until someone takes the oath of office in January
I voted for Nader also in 2000. It didn't end up mattering in the state I lived in at the time (Iowa), but I still regret it--especially when I heard many years later how purposefully destructive his whole effort really was designed to be. Like you, I will never vote third party again.
I voted for Perot. Because of NAFTA. And I still believe he was right. HeII, I'd vote for his corpse before I ever vote for another Republican (I switched Parties for good after 2004).
Trade in a time of the 'rona is going to be bonkers.
Voting in 2020 is analogous to wearing a mask in 2020...both are done not merely to protect our own self-interests, but to protect the most vulnerable in our society. Refusal to wear a mask is not an act of rugged individualism, it's a denial of science and fact. Refusal to vote is not an act of principle, it's an abdication of responsibility.
I wrote something (https://crosseye.medium.com/its-all-my-fault-e99ccef6e57c) in 2016 about being responsible for the worst of Bush Jr.'s actions because of my vote for Ralph Nader (here in CT where it was clearly not going to change anything.) And I still stand by that.
But someone I greatly respected -- Jon Barlow, a now-deceased, long-time music professor at Wesleyan -- argued that he was exercising his right not to vote. I don't remember his actual arguments when pressed on it, but I remember him telling us how he found a sympathetic ear in an émigré from Russia where voting was mandatory. There are reasons of conscience which might prevent one from voting.
Of course it you don't vote, your complaints about political situations won't get any sympathy from me.
There's a choice to be made between two non-perfect alternatives. It's a cowardly moral cop-out to refuse to make that choice.
I hope that Ranked Choice Voting (on the ballot in MA) will change this calculation in the future. You can vote for Nader as long as Gore is your second choice.
He would have been, yes!
Ok, John. You’ve had me in your corner for some time, as you well know. But we’re cemented after today. “Empurpled Contempt” is utterly swag-worthy! :-)
The whole piece is spot on. My first vote, for which I will never forgive myself (though it did not make a difference, truly), was for John Anderson.
Oof, I feel your pain!