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Apparently, General Wesley Clark did not do enough jumping jacks for votes in New Hampshire. John Kerry's double digit win over Howard Dean in Dean's neck of the woods spells some doom for Dean. John Edwards is excited, but at this point, Gothamist will just wait to see what happens after the convention, weigh our options, and probably vote third party again.
Check out Aaron's fantasy of having the Democratic National Convention here in NY involves handcuffs.
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OK, hate to flame, get political, and start a shitstorm of posts, but here goes: Please don't vote third party! As much as I despise our 2-party strangle-held system of Republican'ts and Dumocrats (of which I'm one), I think ANYTHING will be better than another 4 years of Bush. And the best chance of unseating Bush is voting for the Democratic candidate, no matter who it is. Yes, the whole "lesser of two evils" thing again. I know this may come across as simplistic and naive, but really, all I believe in right now is: Anyone But Bush '04!
I agree with the "anyone but Bush" sentiment wholeheartedly. And for that reason, people in Florida and other swing states should NOT vote third party.
But in NYC you can vote for anyone you want, b/c NY is not a swing state, and it wont affect the overall vote.
and a third part only needs 8% of the vote to get federal funding. that would mean *gasp* 3 canidates to vote for one day and that would be wonderful.
Yes, definitely do not vote for a third party in this election. Having voted for Nader (in a state that I knew would go for Gore), I agree with third parties in theory, but Bush has devastated the country. A vote for a third party (when you may have voted for a Democrat) is really a vote for Bush.
Q: What is the difference between voting for a third party or staying home and masturbating?
A: Masturbating ends with a pleasurable event
I don't see how anyone could take a chance in this election and vote 3rd party, NY or not.
I really really really really really hate the two-party system. I'm hoping that a candidate I can vote for emerges, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Well Jen what do you not like about Dean and Kerry?
I don't live in a swing state and we need every vote. Gore only won Washington State by 5% This is going to be a close election.
" A vote for a third party (when you may have voted for a Democrat) is really a vote for Bush."
THIS IS THE TRUTH.
Excellent points, FDL and Ajit. Yeah, not voting third party is crucial in the 15 or so swing states like FL, AZ, NV, OH, MO, WV, etc. It sucks not to be able to vote with your heart and have to be much more practical with your vote, but if it'll bring about some good in the long run, I'm all for playing along.
this reminds me of a political cartoon from four years ago: bush hears on tv that a vote for nader is a vote for bush. cut to: bush in the election booth, putting a check mark beside "nader"
This is what Clark is saying to the young man in the diner:
"I just flew in to New Hampshire, and boy are my arms tired!"
Thank you very much. I'll be here all week folks!
like i said in a posting a few weeks ago, those of us on the left need to get it straight: this election is in no way about voting for the candidate most aligned with our personal views. it's about voting for the candidate that can defeat bush. it's about voting for the person who can capture the independent vote and maybe even take some republicans, because that person, as "conservative" as he may appear, is still the better option to the karl rove sycophant in office now.
Note to self: This is what I get for posting about politics on the site. I'm waiting for Sterling to rear his head on this thread.
it should be noted that last year (as in 2003), there were some republicans that were talking about competing in new york. they thought the whole ny electing a GOP governor again was a good sign, especially since pataki has good pull outside the city. even if they didn't win, bush campaigning here would make sure the democratic nominee wouldn't take ny for granted.
I'm a Leftist. I'm dissatisfied with the Democratic Party's lack of backbone and leadership. But, voting "third party" is what got us into this mess in the first place. If Ralph Nader had directed his supporters to vote for Al Gore, Gore would have won easily. not that Gore is great, but he would have been better than Bu$h. Instead, the left is divided, and which is what the Fascists in power want. We will have four more years of Bu$h. And after that, my guess is we will have another Repooblican. We need to use our votes in opposition. We aren't voting *for* the Democratic candidate, we are voting *against* Bush. Unless you actually want him back, PLEASE DONT VOTE THIRD PARTY!!!!!!!
THIRD PARTY!?!?!? I'm crying.
Oh well, I'll agree to disagree with Gothamist on that one. Just give me a second to pull myself together.
hmmm...if i think the bloggies should feature 6 nominees instead of 5 in each category, does that mean i should vote for a blog i know can't win instead of gothamist? you know, as a means of protest.
Damn Jen, why gotta go do us that way? From the titty shirts to the silly panda nonsense to the shit-the-bed move of voting third party....you're killing me. Don't fall into irrelevence when you're on the verge of grabbing a Webbie or Bloggi, or whatever.
Look, all the arguments people are posing are valid (to a degree) and I understand the desire to make sure Bush is not in office - believe me, I've heard it all before from friends and family. However, being in NY, with its history of going to the Democrats makes me feel like I can vote for who I rather see in office, third party and all. I'm hoping that once primaries finish and things settle down, and once there's a Democratic ticket, I'll like what I see. But right now, I'm just not that wowed, just tired of rhetoric.
OK, "I really really really really really hate the two-party system" *is* 100 percent valid, but it's also 100 percent not an argument. And as the face (and other parts) of this Web site, you endorsed the idea of voting third party to an audience beyond NY state.
I voted third party four years ago when I lived in Indiana, a state that was predestined from Creation to go to Bush, and I get shit for it to this day, and the fact that no pro-Gore vote in Indiana could possibly have won him the White House doesn't seem to matter.
A side note:
Check out the delegate scorecard:
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/scorecard/index.html
Even though Kerry got the most votes, Dean actually has more delegates. As of today (the 28th), Dean has 113 to Kerry's 94. That means that Dean is ahead. And delegates are what count.
Please don't embarass yourself by trying to make relevant commentary on politics. Stick to things you know, like string music in the subway and where to find good barbecue.
Delegate counts at this stage aren't too significant. They tend to change to reflect the results of primaries. If things stay close between Kerry and Dean, then you might have an interesting convention - delegate brokering and whatnot - but it's too early to read too much meaning into delegate counts.
Nobody: Thank you! You're right, we should just stick to posting wacky pictures of the candidates, versus airing our thoughts about them. Seriously, we're taking that to heart.
Politics make the polis tick; it would be sad to completely omit such privileged discourse from a blog about New York.
Says a member of the ACLU who will probably vote Republican this time round and Democrat in four years.
I do believe in the results of the process over time, but I'd encourage anyone greatly dissatisfied with the present choice of parties and candidates, to take a closer look at direct democracy, swiss style for instance (what I'm most familiar with).
It's the system, stupid! Why not have a popular line-item vote in budget matters, for example?
Have a nice day!
Jen, I know you're now wishing you never brought it up, but please tell us: why are you for a three party system? What will having three parties gain us? They'll probably break down into rightwing, leftwing, and moderate. The Republicans and Democrats will just play to moderates in their campaigning and take the moderate vote (see: the last three presidential elections).
I understand taking a principled stand, but do you really think this is the year to do it?
I'm thinking Clark and his young supporter are dancing to Kajagoogoo's "Too Shy/ Hush Hush/ Eye to Eye" http://www.france-jeunes.net/paroles/index.php?tid=MjExNDE=
Nobody is a coward and a jerk. Jen, I'm new to your site, but I'm already madly in love, and I think that intelligent political discourse is vital. BBQ is yummy.