Undecided Green - The Undecided Voter Project (sitios de interés)
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Being a very political person, an activist in many ways, I am surprised to say that I am undecided in this election at this point. I am not undecided between the two major party candidates, though. I am a Green Party leader in Ohio, one of the big “battleground states”, and I have been telling friends & groups that I am still not sure if I will be voting for Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party candidate, or Barack Obama.
While I am quite sure that McKinney does not have a chance to win, I am not sure she doesn’t deserve my vote this fall, as she has been a champion in congress for many of the issues I believe in. The way the two major parties and much of the media have ignored 3rd party candidates (and Independent Ralph Nader) has really disappointed me. In the past I cast votes for Ralph Nader twice (1996 and 2000), and I’ve voted mostly democrat, even including John Kerry in 2004. Then I look at how much better Obama is than Kerry was, and how exciting and historic it would be to elect Obama. Many of my green friends think I’m naturally going to vote for McKinney, and most of my friends in other political areas such as the peace movement assume I am voting for Obama. I have just told people that I’ve been supporting the McKinney campaign, and I’ve been on Obama’s list for many months and I may end up voting for him (which has evoked some real surprised looks from some people).
I thought I was going to vote absentee this year, so that I’d be available to work at the polls, as I usually do. I haven’t even requested an absentee ballot, since I’m not sure how I will vote.
So, how will I decide? I’m not yet sure. Obama still wants to make the majority of voters more comfortable by saying that troops should go to Afghanistan instead of Iraq, and his Healthcare plan is not as good as a single-payer plan that gets the Insurance industry out of medical decisions - both are not the positions I support. Then he caters to gun-owners and my fellow Jews by emphasizing his undying support for the 2nd amendment and for Israel, without any qualifiers for rights to automatic weapons or for Palestinian human rights. These are just some examples that make me wonder, waver, question... In Ohio, we still have the option of voting early at the Board of Elections - which I will do if I can make up my mind before election day. When I think about how corrupt the two major parties have become, and how the Commission on Presidential Debates won’t even let other candidates in the debates, I lean towards voting for McKinney. When I think about how the future “Green-ness” of the world will be better off with an Obama versus a McCain administration, I lean towards Obama. I will have three yard signs in my front yard soon: “McKinney: Power to the People”, Support Our Troops; End the War, and Ohio for Obama. Go figure...
David
While I am quite sure that McKinney does not have a chance to win, I am not sure she doesn’t deserve my vote this fall, as she has been a champion in congress for many of the issues I believe in. The way the two major parties and much of the media have ignored 3rd party candidates (and Independent Ralph Nader) has really disappointed me. In the past I cast votes for Ralph Nader twice (1996 and 2000), and I’ve voted mostly democrat, even including John Kerry in 2004. Then I look at how much better Obama is than Kerry was, and how exciting and historic it would be to elect Obama. Many of my green friends think I’m naturally going to vote for McKinney, and most of my friends in other political areas such as the peace movement assume I am voting for Obama. I have just told people that I’ve been supporting the McKinney campaign, and I’ve been on Obama’s list for many months and I may end up voting for him (which has evoked some real surprised looks from some people).
I thought I was going to vote absentee this year, so that I’d be available to work at the polls, as I usually do. I haven’t even requested an absentee ballot, since I’m not sure how I will vote.
So, how will I decide? I’m not yet sure. Obama still wants to make the majority of voters more comfortable by saying that troops should go to Afghanistan instead of Iraq, and his Healthcare plan is not as good as a single-payer plan that gets the Insurance industry out of medical decisions - both are not the positions I support. Then he caters to gun-owners and my fellow Jews by emphasizing his undying support for the 2nd amendment and for Israel, without any qualifiers for rights to automatic weapons or for Palestinian human rights. These are just some examples that make me wonder, waver, question... In Ohio, we still have the option of voting early at the Board of Elections - which I will do if I can make up my mind before election day. When I think about how corrupt the two major parties have become, and how the Commission on Presidential Debates won’t even let other candidates in the debates, I lean towards voting for McKinney. When I think about how the future “Green-ness” of the world will be better off with an Obama versus a McCain administration, I lean towards Obama. I will have three yard signs in my front yard soon: “McKinney: Power to the People”, Support Our Troops; End the War, and Ohio for Obama. Go figure...
David