McBama or O’Cain?
August 6th, 2008
Filed Under: activism, politics
This incredible poster above was illustrated by my politically conscience buddy PJ Chmiel, and this is a shout-out to the spirit in which he made his artwork in.
I think PJ raises a very good point here worth pondering for a moment, a concept I’ve tried hard to express to others as well. At the heart of the matter it’s about making a real choice. Along with some other people, I too am completely dissatisfied with our current two-party system of which I have a healthy distrust of while also harboring a deep desire for an unequivocal change of leadership.
Now despite what I just stated I’m really not interested in bashing the Republican and Democratic parties so much as I am simply trying to understand why most people seem indoctrinated to believe that only a vote for one of these parties is the most viable choice out there? Basically:
Does it really have to be either Barack Obama or John McCain as our only choice of candidates?!
What about Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, or Cynthia McKinney (and talk about representing change, she’s a black woman no less!), why can’t any of these presidential candidates be considered just as strongly as the two traditional “choices” are? If you look more closely at these respective third party campaign proposals you’ll see that any one of them has a much stronger grip on the issues and provide healthier solutions than the DNC or GOP candidates currently promote.
As much as I do admire Obama’s “change” campaign slogan, I think if we truly want to usher in REAL change within the United States political process we should collectively vote out the same old, business-as-usual, tired Republican/Democrat system in favor of a truly fresh new approach. Think of what the very act of electing a non-traditional party candidate as U.S. President will serve to help demonstrate:
#1) that the public is not interested in rewarding broken party promises and weak proposals from either the Republicans or Democrats anymore,
#2) party politicians must really listen to the collective will of the voters or else lose their clout in governance, and thus their influence in helping to shape policy,
and lastly, #3) the public is willing to provide the necessary traction to shakeup our political establishment that we so badly need right now.
My personal reasons for declining to vote for either an elephant or a jackass isn’t out of spite or fashion, but rather for aiming at a chance to achieve some measure of significant reform in this country. I do recognize that in our current climate of political discourse this idea has a small chance of success… but does that make it any less worthwhile to pursue?
Whomever you decide to cast your vote for in this upcoming November’s presidential election, I just hope it’s a choice that you wholeheartedly believe in, and not one based on being enchanted by slick promises masquerading themselves as “real change” and “straight talk”.
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12 Responses to “McBama or O’Cain?”
Chad
You also forgot to mention Pat Paulsen.
http://www.paulsen.com/pat/
As for no choice. Just like with a drug habit, things have to get really bad before something is done about it. I don’t know if a 3rd party candidate would be the solution though. Most of the organizations are ran by borderline insane control freaks.
..:JJP
Pat Paulsen… nice!
Now lets not forget Mike Gravel either.
Yeah, sadly that probably is true about it having to get worse first… Cynthia McKinney seems to be the most respectable 3rd party contender if one elects to go that route.
Monkey Nutz
I understand the notion of looking at other avenues, but with that said, the listed options are ostracized former members of the 2 parties??? Barr & McKinney, please!!! Barr has gotten the bad end of the stick too long, and has had shady party-line politics his entire career in everything that he has done. McKinney??? I’m not voting for anyone that has use Federal funds to finance the Tupac Amaru arts Center, named after a misogynistic rapper. And please, the scorned favorite of the uniformed…Nader. 1st time, I understand the symbol (yet it came after you could not win the nomination, not after he wanted to make change) 2nd time, he just threw his hat in to muddle up the process, and ultimately keep Bush in. And now, he’s going to use the race card and show his true colors…I’m amazed that that has remained OFF of this blog.
Sorry, but too much has happened in this country for me to waste my time on symbolic votes. Most of you who do, just stay at home, because people spend too much time “thinking” that they are thinking out of the box, while following the “template” that has been created for them to be “different,” and thus continuing the same dominance of a 2 party system. Look at who funds these 3rd party candidates, who usually only funnel votes from one candidate.
Remember the lemmings “most of you” vote for a jackass, elephant, or idiot with a book, regardless of party lines, but more so out of fashion, and pay no attention to what any of them will/have/had said.
..:JJP
So, Mr. Nutz, presuming that you’re voting for either a Republican or a Democrat this November, how is that action any different from all the other “lemmings” following from a similar “template”?
Monkey Nutz
Because, I’m sorry, but I know that coming from history of people who had to fight for the right to be treated as a Human and an “American” I’m not silly enough to fool myself into some bullshit about “I’m making a change,” while voting for someone who will not make a change “Just Beacuase.” Nor will I waste a vote on someone with a sketchy past. I’ve lived through what both Bob Barr AND Cynthia McKinney have not done in the state of Georgia. And, because people who do not research, simply jump on the Nader train, who again has shown what he is really about, I’m not making an informed decision????
Maybe you can’t relate or identify to the motivation of why I ALWAYS vote, and why it’s my duty, and why I don’t subscribe to thinking “this” outside the box person is teh choice just beacause, but I also sit back and look at the histories of this people.
See for everybody “thinking” they are making a “change,” where are you during the in-between years, when reforms like the ridding the country of the Electoral College, and understanding why it came into existance, instead of waiting until the day before the election is set to say, “Oh, I’m so different, I’m going to waste my vote today, instead of trying to make a difference when I could have.”
Monkey Nutz
Waiting until 2008 is not activism, it’s laziness. And it is a pure representation of keeping the 2 party system and status quo.
Great Job People!!!!!
..:JJP
Wow. Such passion!
But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here now… McCain could still be voted in after all.
..:JJP
Also, you can find faults with any of the candidates if you look at them close enough, but that is not what the general point is about here, rather it’s trying to get across a basic consideration that:
a) you don’t have to vote for people you don’t like, and
b) you’re not limited to voting for either a Democrat or Republican every time.
What I flat out disagree with you on is this notion of a “wasted vote” if it’s not for a Republican or Democrat. That’s simply not true. Even if the odds of winning are against the other non-R/D parties why should that stop anyone from casting a vote for the candidate that they feel is better for the position?
Remember back in 2004, when people tried to vote in the “lesser of two evils”? Look how well that turned out.
You see, by voting for the same circus again, regardless of the “fresh-faces” representing the organizations, we’re saying as voters that we’re okay with the overall status quo. And by far most of us are not. It’s not that I think any particular 3rd party is the cure-all answer, but rather why does the DNC and GOP feel so damned entitled to be voted in at all? And why do voters feel so compelled to only choose from these two force-fed options? And then keep rewarding them after they have failed us time and time again?
Lord knows I’ll write in “Monkey Nutz” 10x faster than I’ll consider checking off ANY of these ass-clowns at the ballot box this year.
PJ Chmiel
Thanks for the post Jamie, sorry I just got this e-mail, I was traveling last week. Interesting discussion here, I’m surprised Ryno hasn’t chimed in one way or the other. Remember: The Republicans were a fledgling “third party” at one time, with a radical “anti-slavery” platform. Look how far we’ve come… A vote for ANY third party candidate is better than a vote of apathy (staying home) or fear (lesser of two evils), because it sends a message of change, i.e. “system malfunction, none of the (two corporate candidates) above.” Anyone who wants one of these “Neither” posters can download an 11×17 version here or buy a screenprinted version from me for $15.
Claudia
Jamie, I agree with you, one’s vote is not wasted. If you vote for a 3rd party it will gain momentum, but voting for a third party is not as simple as that. A vote for a 3rd party is a vote for the dominant party closest to your preferred candidate, which could be McCain or Obama. So in you still end up participating in the bipartisan system in place.
It has been suggested that perhaps a more effective action is simply to donate money to your party.
Perhaps the topic we should give greater attention is whether to have an Electoral College or not. Monkey Nutz is not nuts to suggest getting rid of it. Most people do not know anything about the electoral college and it is the very entity that keeps our votes from counting 100%.
The electoral college is composed of some 500 reps who are in fact the ones who “formally” select the President and VP. Here’s the thing, the President and VP candidate that wins the most votes in a given state during primary elections wins the support of all of that states electors so it is for this reason that some believe that primaries count more than election day votes. In practice, electors pledge to vote for the candidate with the majority, but who is to stop them from changing their vote even if it does not represent the majority in their state?
U.S. campaigns focus on winning popular votes in states rather than focus on winning each and everyone one of our individual votes therefore until we do something to change the system it seems futile to discuss the individual’s choice. As it stands our vote is limited, not wasted, but certainly LIMITED.
..:JJP
I’m all for eliminating the Electoral College… wow that would be great… but do you really expect the main beneficiaries of that system (Republicans & Democrats) to willingly educate the general public on that set-up, let alone eliminate it?
Claudia, you are absolutely right that voting for a 3rd party candidate isn’t so simple at face value. Still, that doesn’t mean I have to endorse a 2-party system candidate just because they may net one half of the lion’s share of the popular vote. With the way things are currently set up, it’s amazing people feel inspired to vote at all sometimes.
Case in point: ever since the Democrats won the majority of seats in Congress (both the Senate and the House of Representatives) in 2006 why have they failed to end the war in Iraq? They control the purse strings, so what’s the problem there?! Why haven’t they been able to impeach Bush & Cheney? If they can impeach a president for cheating on his wife certainly they can impeach a president for war crimes, right? This is just some of the b.s. I’m talking about when I say I’m sick and tired of it. But I’m supposed to vote for the Democrats anyway simply because the Republicans are worse (which is true) even though they both suck if only for different reasons!?
Forgive me, I’m just bored of this never ending circus in our politics.
auni
Everything that all of you have written about, is what I have been thinking/wondering/worrying about. And I can tell you that my clients are all feeling the same way.
I have wondered, why the people who are running for President, don’t put there future team i.e. military expert, economic expert, foreign policy advisors, there entire team that they want to work with and go to the people of this country and say these are the people who I work with. This is my economic advisor. THis is our plan. This is how we will work to create a better etc… Every single person down the line. Who, what, why, when, where. Lets find out who they actually get their information from, to make their sweeping decisions that affect all of us. Let’s find out what their strengths are, where the gaps lie. Lets ask them questions to find out what they really know, and can they actually do the job they are asked to do. I want to know who the team is. Because ultimately, it’s these advisors and cabinet members who really make the decisions. and as we all know, we are only as good as the people that we work with.
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