View From the Bushes

As I'm sure you're all aware, 2004 is an election year. I imagine that most people are already sick of politics and there are still seven months left. Well I come before you today to offer a refreshing alternative (no, not conquering Niulakita and declaring yourself king): third parties. And I'm not talking about Ralph Nader either, though when he says that there's really no difference between Republicans and Democrats, he's got a point. For a more detailed analysis of this there is an excellent article available (the recent Medicare expansion is also a great example of what I'm talking about.)

Getting back to the third party discussion. The most common complaint against third parties is that it's a wasted vote, or perhaps even more damning that it gets the person least similar to your beliefs elected (i.e. Bush v. Gore). Of course, this is only valid if there is some difference between the two major parties (which there isn't though you may not have achieved the wisdom to understand this fact yet). As far as the argument that you're wasting your vote, nothing could be farther from the truth (particularly if you live in a state a non-battleground state, like Utah). For some presidental candidate to really have a mandate, he would have to get at least 50% of the vote and probably closer to 60%, whereas if say, the Libertarians got 5% or 6% of the vote, the press would talk about the libertarian revolution, the major parties would start to lean libertarian, etc. In other words, the net effect of your vote would be ten times as great.

I'm reminded of this topic by a conversation I had on Friday. It turns out that one of my friends is running for congress on the Constitution Party ticket. They have a heavy focus on religion, but other than that, they focus on strict interpretation of the Constitution, much like my favorite third party, the Libertarians. Of course, there is also the Reform Party, the Greens and even the Communists. The point is that there are more than two choices out there and I guarantee that if you take a second to look you're bound to find someone who agrees with you more closely than either of the two major party candidates.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross