My husband looked over at me while I sat, glued to CNN and MSNBC and, yes, Fox (when the other guys went to commercial, I flip-flopped :) ); his bemused expression piqued my interest and I asked him what was so funny. He observed that I get like this every four years and he finds it endearing. My life is far from perfect, but I do have a lot to be grateful for -- not the least of which is a spouse whose political views mirror my own so completely and who understands and respects my fervour when it comes to this election.
It does, however, present a minor problem: when I rant and rave about idiots who claim they will vote Nader rather than support the Democratic nominee if he is not their candidate, all he can do is agree. No devil's advocate, he -- we both agree that it takes a colossally stupid and intransigent fool to refuse pragmatism and compromise by throwing away what would have been a liberal vote against the incumbent.
It is agonizingly idiotic to ignore the reality of the two party system at the national level; a vote for anyone but the Democratic nominee is a vote for Bush -- period. As for that perennial complaint about having to vote for the "lesser of two evils," I can only respond, "When you vote for the lesser of two evils, you get LESS EVIL, moron."
I've sat here for a few minutes wondering how to communicate this obvious fact to recalcitrant would-be Nader voters -- and there is simply nothing more to be said. If they continue to stick their heads in the sand while the Republican horde charges forward, even after the Nader debacle that was 2000, they are beyond redemption. God help us all if the "third party" takes away anything like the number of votes they did in 2000. Perhaps they ought to go out and buy their bumper stickers now: "I Voted Nader; I'm getting what I deserve."
