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I'm thinking maybe a better slogan would be this re-worded oldie from Barry Goldwater:
Kerry for President. Bush for King.
Actually, I had one of the "Vote For the Crook" bumper stickers on my car back in '91. I voted for Edwin Edwards even though I couldn't stand him and I had supported Sam Jones in the primary.
The "Vote For the Crook" campaign was clever, but I don't think it in itself swayed too many people. I think it was more the black community getting out and voting in numbers. I helped register voters that fall... there were many, many, many blacks-- some of them quite elderly-- who were voting for the first time in their lives. They were not about to stand by and let a white supremacist (who happened to be a state senator at the time) become their governor. They were energized. That's what did it, IMO.
Edwards later "repaid" the black community by refusing to grant a stay of execution to a mentally retarded, schizophrenic black man on death row (Robert Wayne Sawyer, may he rest in peace), but's that's another story.
To get back to the point, I don't think the people who are planning to vote for Nader are sway-able. If they don't see a difference between Democrats and Repukes by now, well... they are probably beyond our reach altogether.
That said, I think Nader won't be much of a problem in that we can neutralize his impact by simply getting out the vote, especially among minorities. I'm not so much concerned about the Nader factor as I am about the disenchanted minority voters who feel abandoned (and rightly so, in many cases) by the Democratic party. They are a much larger constituency than the Nader voters and they are more likely to stay home in November if Kerry can't manage to energize them in numbers.
It's going to be a tricky balancing act, but equality and inclusion should figure prominently alongside national security and fiscal responsibility in Kerry's platform. If Dems can get out the vote among minorities, the elderly, the disabled, the poor and vulnerable, Nader will not be a factor, Kerry will win, and Smirk knows it. Of course we also need to make sure that they are actually allowed to vote, and that their votes are actually counted. The GOP machine is going to do everything in their power to keep those folks away from the polls on election day. And we need to do everything in our power to prevent a repeat of the 2000 coup.
Just my .02.
Kayeleigh
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