Press Action ::: Vote Change 2004

Monday, October 25, 2004

Vote Change 2004

By Tony Soldo

It looks like it’s going down to the wire again. All the influencing polls suggest that the presidential race could be decided by a handful of votes.” Get out and vote, vote early, vote often,” they say. “Your vote counts, don’t waste it on anyone who doesn’t have a chance to win.” “Pick A or B (A-), and get out there and yell and shout and support ‘your’ man, and root for him to win.” Winning is good, it feels good to win, everyone loves a winner.

Running the race is fun too. It’s exciting to watch two competitors fight it out in the arena, and only one can come out the victor, while the other suffers defeat. “Wait til next year,” they’ll say. We could be talking about the Boston Red Sox (Kerry) vs. the New York Yankees (Bush). That was an exciting championship race that went down to the wire. If you were pulling for the Red Sox, you experienced the thrill of victory, but if your team was the Yankees, you suffered the agony of defeat.

On November 2nd, half of the people in America will feel the thrill of victory, while the other half will suffer the agony of defeat. To you winners, I ask: what did you really win? Are the next four years going to be any better than the last four? Is the direction that this country is heading in going to change? The Democrats are warning you not to “waste” your vote on Ralph Nader this time, like some did in 2000. They say this time there is too much at stake, and getting rid of Bush is crucial to the survival of the planet.

They neglect to inform you that Kerry is going to continue Bush’s empire building, and add to the number of American troops around the world, not withdrawal them. They forget to tell you that Kerry will continue to support the PATRIOT Act, and increase spending on homeland security, which will eventually lead us to a police state full of citizens spying on each other, that will make any communist fascist proud.

They will also blame the Republicans for helping Nader get on some ballots across the nation. Nader did indeed accept money and lawyers and favors from the Republicans, in order to get on the ballot in some states. That IS the point, getting on the ballot, so that people could have a choice other than the two(one) party choice. This is not about Ralph Nader winning the White House; it’s about peaceably forcing change in America. This is the beginning of a new progressive movement in America, where the majority of people (the have-nots) regain control of this country from a small group of individuals. There’s group A (corporate businessmen and politicians) and group B (wealthy professionals)—the haves.

It’s going to be business as usual no matter who wins this election this year. Both parties receive unbelievable amounts of money from corporations and these corporations demand something for their investment. So both Bush and Kerry are already deeply indebted to these corporations. Nader is not a megalomaniac, or on some ego trip; he already stated that he expects to lose on election day. The corporate controlled media, along with the turncoat DNC (Democratic National Committee), want you to believe that Nader is trying to spoil it for all of us. The opposite is true; he’s trying to force change, which is uncomfortable to us, but very necessary, in order to continue moving toward a more perfect union.

If enough people vote for Nader, or any third-party candidate (even a write-in), this election, it will force both parties to make changes in the way they do business, but especially the Democratic Party, which has become the Republicans little brother. The Democratic Party use to support the little guy (the have-nots), the working class, unions, the poor, the very young and the very old, but now they serve the corporations, just like the Republicans. We may not get to where we’re going this time as a nation of free and diverse people, but we will have moved a big step closer.

Tony Soldo lives in Hobe Sound Florida and can be reached at tsoldo@yahoo.com.

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