Re: Nader votes

["Lois Melina" <lmelina@moscow.com>]

>Democrats, on the other hand, screwed up! There should have been no votes
>for Gore in this state... it was meaningless! We all know it! There is no
>way in hell you will have Idaho go to a Democrat... I am sorry but it is
>true. So why not do the next best thing?!

Less than a year after voting in my first election, I went to work for a
Democratic administration in Ohio. 18 months later I was working for a
Republican administration. I have been a Democrat ever since.

I'm been voting in Idaho for the past 20 years, and while I understand that
rarely will the candidates I favor actually be elected, it does happen.
There are statesmen like Frank Church and Cecil Andrus and Larry LaRocco who
not only represented the Democratic party ideals, but had enough stature to
win over sufficient Republicans and independents. However, the idea that we
should vote only if we think our candidate will win is one reason half the
eligible voters choose not to vote. Call me a middle-aged idealist (please),
but I vote because I live in a country where every adult is allowed to have
a say in the government. I vote because a lot of women endured criticism and
ridicule so I could have that right. I vote my conscience whether that
candidate has a chance or not. My vote for Gore may not have helped him get
any electoral votes, but if Bush wins the electoral college and Gore the
popular vote, my vote is one of those popular votes that tells Mr. W. that
he was not elected with a plurality of the voters behind him.

I'm offended by people who suggest that a vote for Gore rather than Nader is
a vote that I didn't really mean to make--a cave-in to the system. I am
offended that people suggested that I trade my vote because it also meant
that they were willing to trade theirs. I just think when you walk into that
voting booth, you should be voting for the person think is best suited for
that office, whether or not you think she can win. If that throws the
election to someone who was your third choice rather than your second
choice, and you can live with that, then that's your choice.

This election demonstrates that every vote in every precinct matters. We can
say Florida is deciding this election, but we can also say Nevada with its 4
electors, or Idaho with its 4 electors, or Maine with its 4 electors decided
this election, because it is that close. Even if my vote didn't win my
candidate any electoral votes, it made a statement, and all those 48 million
statements...all those 96 million statements together will impact the course
of this nation. I believe that. But even if it doesn't, I made my statement.
If every eligible voter took the time to make his or her statement--not just
in the general election, but in the primaries, perhaps we would have a more
representative government. But all I can do is make my statement.

Lois Melina