Rambling thoughts

So in the last day before the election, I am getting blasted with ads from both sides of the politcal spectrum. I have seen both Pro-Bush and pro-kerry buttons proudly displayed. I think it is great to see so many people interested in politics. Both sides have been slinging mud at each other for months, and I have a feeling this will not stop tomorrow. Somewhere, there will be claims of voter disenfranchisment, voter fraud, and voter manipulation. It is really unfortuante, but I am sure we wont have a declared winner for a little while. At the moment the election will be a tight race and is still up for grabs. Anyone who thinks it will be a landslide either way is wrong.

Here is something I think is amusing. There are some people in this country who think we should have more politcal parties in this country. They believe that the two party system is does not allow for the greatest divsrsity of candidates. They claim that the two party system only allows the rehashing of two essential politcal ideologies. Well guess what, these are the people that have blocked Ralph Nader from getting on the ticket. Interesting isnt it?

And on the note of Ralph Nader, isnt it interesting that certain groups of hardcore democrats claim that Nader cost Gore the election in 2004? Well to a certain extent this is true, but had Gore won Tennessee or Arkansas, then the supposed Nader factor would not have done anything. But here is the real deal the so called political pundits wont tell you: 3rd Party candidates have cost candiuates elections for years. In fact the current Democratic and Republican Parties actually were originally minor third parties that appealed to a large enough base. Rememeber the election of Bill CLinton in 1992? That would never have happened had Ross Perot not taken votes away from Bush 41.

How about the election of 1861? In this election the democratic party was split between the Northen candidate (Stephen Douglas) and the Southern Democrat(John C. Breckenridge). In this case, the main democratic party selected Douglas, but the Southern faction could not stand him, and thus brought in their own candidate. In this case Breckinridge was the third party candidate. In the actual election results Abraham Lincoln won the election when the democratic party split. Interestingly enough the third party candidate, Breckenridge, outperformed Douglas 72-12. So as you can see this type of thing has been going on for years. That and ballot stuffing, right JFK, Lyndon Johnson, and Mayor Dailey?

There have plenty of examples throughout history that show where a third party candiate siphoned votes away from a major candiate. DEAL WITH IT. Thats the way we play politics in this country, and I like it that way. If you are not able to appeal to all factions, thats your own fault. How can you expect to just recive votes just becuase you head the bill of a party? You must work to EARN those votes. Thats why Bush 41 lost. Thats why Gore lost...