The philosopher and critic George Santayana (1863–1952) is famous for his quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I had him in mind when I wrote a letter to the editor which appeared in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times. Since I am told by friends that often the letters section is not made available on the website to those who are not paid subscribers, and since I am the author the fair use provisions are moot, I am including the entire text rather than a link. Enjoy.
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John Anderson. Ralph Nader. Ross Perot.
Those three men were independent presidential candidates at some point during my life, and all three siphoned enough votes away from a major-party candidate to change the outcome of the election. None was close to winning the Oval Office.
This trend could continue with Jill Stein and Cornel West, who together barely muster 5% in polls. Even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has slightly more than double the support that those two have ... combined.
While I certainly support any qualified person’s right to run for president, the presence of third-party candidates nearly always results in being little more than a way for a minority of voters to express their dissatisfaction. That sentiment should not be allowed to skew the single most important election we have in any four-year period, even though I cannot — and would not — attempt to legally preempt those candidates’ rights.
But unless Stein’s, West’s and Kennedy’s actual goal is to take enough votes away from President Biden to enable former President Trump to win, they have a moral obligation to do the right thing for democracy and end their campaigns.