Member-only story
I won’t ‘vote blue no matter who’
I’ve waited my whole life for a candidate who represents what I believe in, and I won’t commit to one who doesn’t
There was a presidential election the year I turned 18, so I took the opportunity to exercise my newly gained franchise. In that contentious contest between George W. Bush and Al Gore, I chose third-party candidate, Ralph Nader. Because he won tens of thousands of votes in the decisive state of Florida, Nader was called a “spoiler” when Gore lost. While other factors played a much greater role in Bush’s dubious victory — namely voter suppression and the electoral college — third-party voters made for a convenient scapegoat.
I didn’t vote for Nader out of some shallow anti-establishment impulse. I liked his platform, particularly his call to repeal the anti-union Taft-Hartley Amendment. His views were more like my own, so I picked the person I agreed with.
It really left a bad taste in my mouth to be scolded for “throwing my vote away.” To waste something, it must first have value. I lived in Texas, a solidly red state, so my vote didn’t count for squat. And if Nader hadn’t run, I wouldn’t have voted at all.
Out of the five presidential elections I’ve been eligible to vote in, I’ve only participated in two, and the…
