HeidiAllen.com

Third party candidates took a beating from the media and on the streets this past election. The word “spoiler” was on everyone’s lips. Some even dared to ask, “What good are the third parties, anyway?”.

There are many, many answers to that question, but this Thanksgiving, we’ve got one really good reason to send them our love and gratitude: They are demanding and paying for recounts in Ohio and New Hampshire, and they’re doing it for all the right reasons.

Ralph Nader (in coalition with BlackBoxVoting.org) - “Voters need to have confidence that their vote is being counted accurately. A hand recount of suspect results will either rule out the possibility of machine error or show a discrepancy between the machine and the actual vote count – either way voters need to know. Even in an election year with record turnout tens of millions of Americans did not vote. We need to give people a reason to vote and that begins with ensuring votes are counted accurately.”

Nader’s site
BlackBoxVoting.org

David Cobb (Green candidate) & Michael Badnarik (Libertarian candidate) - “Due to widespread reports of irregularities in Ohio’s voting process, we are compelled to demand a recount of the Ohio presidential vote. Voting is at the heart of the American political process and its integrity must be preserved. When Americans stand in line for hours to exercise their right to vote, they need to know that their votes will be counted fairly and accurately. We are acting to protect the rights of the people of Ohio, and the rights of all Americans. Public trust in the democratic process is at stake.”

Badnarik’s site
Cobb’s site

I have respect for each and every one of these guys. They know these recounts won’t change anything for them personally, but they also know that Americans need to be able to trust the ballot box once more.

The more I mull over the election results, the more convinced I am that a Bush win was the best possible outcome for the long-term. No, I haven’t suddenly become a Republican. Allow me to explain…

Saddled with an untenable situation in Iraq and an impossibly huge national debt, Kerry would have become the lightning rod of blame for monsters he didn’t create. The solid Republican majorities in both the House and Senate would have torpedoed his initiatives, making him a lame duck president.

That’s not all. There’s an impending struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party. The old guard wants to move yet further into Republican-lite territory. The progressives want to move the party back to left of center, where it belongs.

With a Democrat in the White House, this struggle would have played out in the media spotlight. And regardless of its outcome, Democratic candidates would have been unable to make much progress with half of our nation’s citizens blaming their problems on anything other than Republican policy.

But that’s not a future we have to worry about. President Bush, with his new “mandate”, will do our work for us. Already, in his first post-election press conference, he mentioned his plan for privatizing Social Security no less than four times. He also said he wanted a line item veto on the budget, so that he can cut funding to so-called entitlement programs.

How will Republicans respond when they face hard times thanks to Bush? When it becomes clear that his foreign policy has made us less safe? When our loved ones serving in the military have their tours of duty extended yet again? My guess is, not well.

And THAT, my friend, is our opportunity. If we do the necessary work now, we can have sound solutions and qualified candidates ready to step in and do the job.

I would go even further. If we do these things, we’ll have a real shot at evolving this nation’s mentality beyond bigotry, Rambo-ism and paranoia.

We can regain the respect of the world. We can dethrone the corporate powers that hold us hostage. We can show that security and our civil liberties can coexist. We can prove that it’s possible to be fiscally responsible and compassionate simultaneously. We can unite rather than divide.

George W. Bush said that, but he didn’t mean it. We can prove that we do. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!