The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Voting for your beliefs sure beats backing a winner

02/19/04

If I were a Democrat, I'd vote for Dennis Kucinich for president.
I'm not, and I won't. His politics and mine, for the most part, are polar opposites.

But if I were heir to the populism of Andy Jackson and FDR, of W.E.B. DuBois and John L. Lewis, well, the favorite son of this gritty, old steel town would be the candidate for me.

Why?

Because Dennis (and in this city, he'll never be known by any other name) carries the distilled essence of what the Democratic Party used to be about, and in which most rank-and-file members, down deep in their hearts, still believe.

" Persuaded that, however much they agree with his platform, Dennis can win neither the nomination nor the presidency, they will treat their vote like a $2 bet at Thistledown: They'll plunk it down on an odds-makers favorite, regardless of how his voting record may conflict with creating the kind of America these Democrats want to see.

For too many voters of both major parties, backing the winning "horse" trumps every other consideration. That's the short-sighted tragedy of politics today.

And that's part of the reason that so many citizens are so disenchanted with the major parties. They've too often compromised their principles for pragmatism, then were shocked when the people they had helped elect didn't govern as they had hoped they might"...(Full Story)