November 2000, that's an election I will never forget. Don't you sometimes wonder where the country would be today, had things turned out differently? Whether walking down the streets of an inner-city neighborhood, watching a hardworking immigrant fighting the odds in the suburbs, imagining the thoughts crossing the mind of a foreigner as he or she notices your American passport, or hearing tragic stories from our ever-growing number of international battlefronts, it's hard to not daydream of an alternate reality where our president's last name is Gore.
Where did we go wrong? How did we elect George Bush? But we didn't, many of you will argue, it was the Supreme Court that did! That's not my point; just a few thousand more votes and Gore's victory would have been indisputable.
Who do we blame? A Democratic Party convinced by Bill Clinton's repeated political success, that the center held the key to continuous victory? A Democratic nominee who would pick his running mate from the one-man party of "Connecticut for Lieberman", as he would later be known? Do we blame disillusioned Democrats who chose to sit this one out, or disheartened party activists who just weren't inspired enough to make a real difference? Was it the fault of a Green idealist who dared sidestep the dual-party system in his quest for presidency? After all, it would be much too easy to blame a compassionate conservative, who turned out to only show compassion for a certain few while eagerly conserving their many privileges. Not only would it be too easy, but it would also be pointless, since others will step in to fill his void this cycle and many other cycles to come.
I try to be a pragmatic idealist, never happy with the candidates out there or the pathetically small steps they take, but embracing every chance to make things a little better than they are. I like to think of myself as an optimistic realist; I avoid putting too much faith in candidates or groups I support, yet believe that with our push, they can make things better. I believe the Democratic Party needed a wakeup call in 2000, but with all the lives lost, I can't bring myself to saying that it was all worth it.
I am convinced that a Republican victory in 2008 will be disastrous for the country, which is why I will support the Democratic nominee this time, whoever he or she is, and however unlikely a Republican victory may be. Until then, however, is our chance to tilt things in the right direction. Each of us needs to find the right balance, to have the biggest positive impact. Strike too far away and your voice will not be heard. Strike too close to the status quo, and a monumental opportunity will have been lost.