November 9th

In the summer of 2008, I found myself yelling ‘legalize democracy!’ at a crowd of rodeo-goers in Laramie, Wyoming. I was finishing off an excruciating season of canvassing for the Ralph Nader Presidential campaign, and convincing people to sign my petition for ballot access, was like asking them to poke their eyes out with a dull pencil.

Nader, during his four runs as a third party candidate, pitched himself as the lefts’ untainted moral option. If you were going to vote your values, you were going to vote Nader. Unfortunately, after Bush won in 2000 with a narrow lead over Gore, liberals blasted Nader as a spoiler. In 2000, Nader received 3 million votes (2.75%), not a ton, but something. In 2004, Nader tanked at 400,000 votes at a dismal .38 percent; 2008 didn’t turn out much better, and some of the lowest moments in my life were sulking in a Walmart parking lot, dodging security guards, and trying not to feel depressed after yet another cold rejection.

These days, in the face of another Presidential election, my Facebook feed is often a volley of insults between liberals fed up with obstinate Bernie-or-Busters, and the Green Party faithful would sooner vote for a chicken in a Panda suit than Hillary Clinton. Yet, this year’s third party candidates don’t seem to fare any better than Nader did in 2004 and 2008. Gary Johnson is polling at just under ten percent, and Dr. Jill Stein consistently under five. Bernie Sanders knew he couldn’t win on a third party ticket; and despite a media bias, and a Democratic Party that early on circled the wagons around Hillary Clinton, he almost won the nomination. Almost.

As a long time third party voter, I am captured by arguments on both sides: we need to break with the two party system, we need to build an independent movement of progressive bottom up power, we need to draw the line. Yet, this year at least, even though I am registered to vote in Clinton landslide county, I am feel reservations about even a symbolic vote for the Green Party in a safe state. What if Stein were elected? Would the world change? Would any of Steins platform be implemented? Would we achieve universal healthcare over night? I seriously doubt it. Yet I am wary of a Democratic Party with absolutely no accountability on the issues other than the slogan ‘Not Trump!’ We seem to keep having these arguments. ‘This is an historical election,’ ‘we need all hands on deck,’ ‘once Clinton is elected then we can hold her accountable,’ ‘Clinton isn’t perfect, but who is?’ ‘Think of the Supreme Court nominations!’ ‘This is our last chance to do something about climate change!’ I get it.

While I agree that a Trump presidency would be a disaster for poor people, for black people, for Syrian people, for polar bears; would a Clinton presidency be any better? Well… I have to admit, yes, I think it would. I actually do think there would be significant, substantive differences in a Clinton presidency around the issues I care about most: climate change action, racial justice, defeating ISIS, women’s rights. But again, the Democratic Party has consistently sold out progressive causes, from welfare reform, to healthcare reform, to climate change to gun control.

It seems as though the Presidential race is a distraction from the real work that needs to be done in a thousand communities across the country. We need more voices, more choice in our elections at every level. We need real accountability not just for political parties but for corporations, and lobbyists like the NRA. We need truth and reconciliation for Native peoples who suffer disproportionate rates of just about every social problem and daily see their sacred sites bulldozed in the name of progress. We need truth and reconciliation on racism and the war against black people who are gunned down at crisis levels. We need a broad and deep conversation about white privilege, male privilege and sexism where men like me are mostly listening. We need to defeat ISIS in ways that do not metastasize their appeal. We need to make sure that no one goes bankrupt when they get sick. I don’t see these as even on the table during a Trump presidency. Does that make me a sell out? Does that mean I am compromising my values? Maybe. But, regardless of who wins on November 8, on November 9, I hope we can come together and talk about the ways to make our world better than we found it, with or without the US President.