Readers' Letters Remarking on the U.S. Presidential Election

Responses (some slightly edited) to the questions posed in November 2008 Green Politics, v18n3: "Will you be voting for one of the third party candidates, perhaps writing in the name if she/he is not on the ballot? Or do you feel that Obama will be a different candidate and will usher in new era? Perhaps, not voting is how you will solve the dilemma. Let us hear from you."

Dear GP:
Thank you for asking recipients of your newsletter our take on the upcoming election. The Green Party in the USA has never taken off as it should've because of the long-standing American duopoly and the altogether outmoded Electoral College. Green Party USA should be a viable 3rd Party, just as it is in Europe, but we don't have the strong parliamentary position they do. Add to that the depredations of the Bush years, his own power-hogging, stuffing the Supreme Court with cronies and the fact that lobbying isn't a crime (it should be)…. Change will come slowly; for now, Greens must act locally. For the next 25 years Greens must act locally….
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Dear GP:
I have voted Green in past elections and Nader before that but in this election I just think that it is too important that the Repubs get booted out. I am grudgingly voting for Obama because I in the past thought well there is no difference between Bush and Gore. I feel Obama might be a better Clinton but I'll be back disapproving of the party in power before too long. As Gore Vidal said, "There's only one party in the US -- the Money party with two branches, Democratic and Republican." But this election is too important to vote my principles.
Sincerely,

Rabbi Yosef Zylberberg
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Dear GP:
I had this conversation recently, but I'm always surprised when I hear "not voting" suggested by Greens or those identifying themselves as socialists or "leftist." What exactly does this prove? Well, it seems to make some feel removed from the fray, relieved they don't support either of the liars, above the deceits of a 'duopoly'...or as some friends and relatives seem to feel as Republicans, not supporting either the Barracuda and Mac The Knife NOR the BlackGuy Socialist. How does your "no vote" count? It doesn't, but it DOES weaken the concept of even the sham dictatorial, autocratic, privately bought, owned, run and managed so-called "political democracy" we are schackled to.

Please, GREENS! Call for a real democracy, where we live and where we work. Call it democratic socialism or green socialism or whatever, but PLEASE don't cop-out at such a crucial time! Capitalism is falling apart, read Immanuel Wallerstein from your own Synthesis/Regeneration latest Fall issue. Wallerstein reports Capitalism will end, and will be replaced inevitably by something else. We're in the first stages of that "something else" and we've got to have some vision of what that can be. Telling people the option can be "not to vote" is no option.

We MUST start thinking of what we will replace it with, and it must be a cooperative ownership of all our society or else we face real fascism, no smiles. GREENS! Let's get it together. We can't be GREEN AND CAPITALIST. We can't be GREEN without being a DEMOCRACY. We can't be A DEMOCRACY without full ownership and cooperative management WHERE WE LIVE AND WHERE WE WORK. Real democracy, economic and civic. Socialism, "A New Society" -- Call that what you will, but it requires more commitment and thoughtfulness than "not voting."

L. Frantin
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Dear GP:
Heya! My name is Carla and I live in The Ozarks of Missouri. I will be voting Green Party. Cynthia McKinney says all the things that make sense to me. I know how impossible it is to get others to consider a third party candidate. First off, they don't know anything about her or the party because they won't look away from their televisions long enough to learn anything! And since Obama is spending more than any candidate ever has on advertising, they are probably voting for or against him in their sleep!

…I don't believe my vote will count. I accept that this country has gone so completely astray that we betray ourselves when we choose the "lesser of two evils" because we are still choosing evil! I was told, when I began to vote, that such would be my voting history. I have learned there are alternatives, but it took decades for me to understand that. The electoral college assures that the most wealthy candidate will be the winning candidate as long as television controls voters' minds.

It's like the lottery: you can't lose if you don't play! And I was going to withhold my vote this year as a way of voting "no confidence" until I saw that Cynthia McKinney is the Green Party candidate! (I can't vote for Nader. The man just makes me want to wash something!) I can and do support McKinney. I will vote for her and Rosa Clemente.

… Thank you for your efforts. I know it must be feeling fruitless but let me give you a ray of hope... I tend to be ahead of the curve. The current mortgage crisis? I went through this a couple of years ago! But it holds true in my life in many, many ways. I think, in the not so distant future, the Green Party will take on a viability that no other third party has thus far. Why? Because, regardless of religion, race, creed or underwear size, we are all Earthlings and when She fails us we have waited too long!

…The Green Party is the future. But it is going to take imagination to be discovered in the face of horrendous odds. And that is what evolution is all about! Peace! It can happen, as soon as enough people refuse the profits of war.

Love,

C
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Dear GP:
I already voted for Cynthia McKinney here in Texas and had to write in her name. I feel Obama is just another republican. People are so worried about money and oil, when they should be very worried about air, water and food. Why are people so stupid?

Dawn Degenhart
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Dear GP:

GP: "Will you be voting for one of the third party candidates, perhaps writing in the name if she/he is not on the ballot?" Answer: Nader/Gonzalez is on the ballot in my state (Alabama) so I will be voting for them. If they weren't on the ballot, I would write them in.

GP: "Or do you feel that Obama will be a different candidate and will usher in new era?" Answer: Not a chance of that happening.

GP: "Perhaps, not voting is how you will solve the dilemma." Answer: NO. As long as a write-in is allowed, we must ALWAYS vote. When you vote for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil.

Vic Dura
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Dear GP:
It's not so much that I want Obama to win, it's more that I don't want McCain to win. If I vote for a 3rd party candidate, that's one more vote for McCain that won't be cancelled out by an Obama vote.

Sandra Banes
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Dear GP:

I support Cynthia McKinney for President. I'm voting for Cynthia McKinney. Your "Step Sibling" (as you put it) GPUS has improved a lot. I'm well aware of the despicable origins of GPUS dating back to ASGP in 1996, but a lot of new people -- good people unaware of the split -- have joined them, people who are as Left as GPUSA. I still support GPUSA, too. I know that Electoral Politics is not the answer for every thing. Which is why it's good to have GPUSA around, too. If you guys ever merge, GPUSA could be the activist arm and GPUS the electoral arm.…As important as activism goes, electoral politics is still important, too.It's a tool that shouldn't be neglected. As long as we vote for people who are offering substantive change, and not band-aid solutions. That's why I'm voting for Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente. They offer substantive change and not band aid solutions. Barack Obama offers us band-aid solutions. Barack Obama is just better than John McCain, and only slightly better at that.

I think the article in Synthesis/Regeneration saying why Cynthia McKinney deserves our support, and not Barack Obama, said it all. Ralph Nader also would give us substantive change.But Ralph Nader is simply a protest vote, since he doesn't represent any political party. What he said about infighting in the GPUS is certainly true, but Ralph Nader should join the GPUS, and try to heal those conflicts. Ralph Nader would have done more good if he had just endorsed McKinney rather than running for President this year. Whether or not GPUS gets our 5 percent of the vote or not, Cynthia McKinney's Presidential campaign has helped GPUS to grow. Actually, Cynthia McKinney's campaign can help GPUSA, too.

Sincerely

Lewis Liddell Jr.
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Dear GP:
In my Kentucky voting booth this morning, I wrote in "Cynthia McKinney" as my preferred candidate for the office of U.S. President. In past elections, I always have gone to the polls, but typically have voted only for local offices and on local ballot initiatives, leaving the ballot blank for "national" and frequently even for "state" offices.  This year, something inside me stirred, my hand clasped the pencil in front of me, and I scratched out my tiny and imperfect protest against systematic perpetuation of a U.S. national regime. None of us can predict the future, but this GP reader is less sure than are some others that our planet will be better served by investing Barack Obama with the powers of U.S. President rather than investing those same powers in John McCain or in George W. Bush. "Hope" sells easily in 2008. Greens have lots of undone work piled up between today and any semblance of a sustainable future, and November 4's renewal of the American election ritual hasn't made the pile any smaller.
Regards,

Phil Ardery Jr.
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Dear GP:
I am a registered Democrat. I voted early for Cynthia McKinney because she has spoken about investigating 911. I just think she is a better candidate. I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000 even though I was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in the 5th District of Iowa.… It has been my pleasure to have a chance to vote for someone other than the tepid candidate the Democrats routinely offer. The Democratic Party routinely shuts down their better candidates, such as Dennis Kucinich, for some reason.

Mike Palecek
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Dear GP:
You ask about my voting. I'm waiting until Tuesday to see what the North Carolina polls say. If we're still a possible swing state, I'm voting Obama. If not, I'm writing in Nader, who I think is more articulate and deeply and broadly informed than McKinney.
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Dear GP:
Personally, I have always (strongly) felt that green-ethics precluded the concept of "party politics," thus that there should NOT be a "green party," which is not to say that there should not be "green candidates," which I know is a double negative, thus emphasizing the point that "green candidates" may be of any political persuasion and (imho) should stand for office as independents or write-ins. Thus there is no dilemma for me... and, respectfully, there need be none for you. All that is required is a choice to abide one's own deepest values and earnestly trust others to do the same. The world would change in a twinkling if we would all simply do this....

Christine
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Dear GP:
Really?? Oh my god, are you serious?? I voted for Ralph in 2000 and regretted it once I looked at the final NV tally. Sure, Nader's votes were his, not Gore's. But my vote for Nader would have gone to Gore, had I known what would happen. It is the same thing this election. Nader is the best, and I would love to vote green. But why do the Republicans' dirty work of dividing and conquering for them? Sure, it is a duopoly, and they only pay heed to their corporate masters. It is the lesser of two evils, but wow, what a difference the lesser evil Gore would have made over the last 7 years. Evil like that would be a blessing. Maybe you can vote your conscience in a vacuum, but over here in the real, broke-ass world, we have to make compromises, hold our noses, and vote for the schmuck that will only slowly bleed the poor instead of open every vein at once.
Peace,

Scott Stephensen
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