free 2 be marlo

Friday, July 23, 2004

Posted by B2 @ 7:59 p.m. ET

It's that time again, and I'll be riding the rails up to Boston to work the big show. I'll try to post some inside-the-convention tidbits on this string if I get a chance, but I thought I'd leave you Marlites with a piece of B2 philosophy.

I recently sent this reply to someone on a newsgroup who said they didn't want to vote for Kerry because his health care plan was aimed at covering only 95% of the people who needed it. It's somewhat directed towards that person's statement, but it also encompasses my philosophy of why not voting or voting for a third-party candidate is not a viable option.

================================== You can't eschew the good while you wait for the perfect.

The two party system is not ideal, it would be great if we could cast a legitimate vote for whoever has ideas that most closely match our own, but that's not in fact the case. Like it or not, barring an untimely death there are only two people who might possibly be president this time next year. It's not a run-off situation, but in essence it is, in that it's a situation where all the other possibilities have been wittled down and weeded out and there are only two possible decisions to make. Given that situation, the only rational way to vote is to pick the one candidate that most closely matches your views on whichever issue(s) is more important to you and vote for that person. If you think Bush has a better health care plan than Kerry, then by all means vote for Bush; but if you're planning on not voting for Kerry just because his plan isn't perfect, then you are living in a fantasy land. Unless you are running for office yourself, you will never, ever find any one candidate who precisely matches your views. If you have ever voted, you have compromised.

Politics is about compromise, like it or not, and I am confident that Kerry would agree with you that everyone needs to be covered, but do you remember what happened last time a serious universal healthcare proposal was floated? Democrats lost control of the House and the Senate simultaneously and in almost twelve years they have yet to reclaim control of either chamber (other than the short-lived 19-month "Jeffords majority" in the Senate). While the loss of Congress obviously set back health care progress, it also stunted growth of the minimum wage and allowed for tax cuts for corporations thereby transferring that burden to those less able, leaving millions unemployed -- likely those same millions that you are so concerned with.

It's unfortunate that positive change takes time even when well-intentioned people are in charge; but when the nefarious spirits of the GOP are running the show, it will be more like forever. You should absolutely vote your consience, but bear in mind that if you are not voting for the legitimate contender (Kerry) or not voting at all, you are giving a vote to the status quo and you may as well have a "W" sticker on your car.

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