Nothing But Politics

[CoalTrain]

How does voting for Nader help the process of moving from where we are to one where the parties are what you would view as adversaries?

One of the big problems in Presidential politics is that in the Presidential debates the candidates never really ask each other tough questions. They just kick around the same old political footballs. It's pretty much a non event in my book. Nader was not even allowed in the Presidential debates as part of the audience last election. He had a ticket that was bought and paid for. Several policeman confronted him as he tried to enter the building at U Mass and told him he could not come in the building. The percentage of the vote that one must get to be in the Presidential elections is a lot less than 50%. I think it is in the neighborhood of 5%.

The idea that a third party is bad reminds of the argument of abuse of free speech. I believe that there is such a thing as abuse of free speech. However as some justice whose name I cannot remember at the moment said "the cure to abuse of free speech is more free speech". I do believe that voting for a third party is not without its problems in a country as ours so afraid of third parties and real democracy. The answer to the problem is people need to start believing in third party's and vote for third party's. The first time that happens in significant numbers we will most likely have for starters real Presidential debates.