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Between Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, and Ralph Nader, two out of three of these people need to agree to withdraw from the Presidential race no later than Sept. 1.The key is that we need one unified opposition candidate. We work in a winner-take-all system. To try to run three separate campaigns and to split our time, our money and our resources between them is political suicide. It is letting pride get in the way of our chances at success.
We don't need symbolic campaigns. We need a serious effort to change the country. If we run symbolic campaigns, we are essentially abandoning our country to the less than gentile ministrations of the two parties who represent rule by the corporations, of the corporations, and for the corporations. This is destroying America for the rest of us, and we need a serious effort to end it. Not symbolic campaigns. If we run three separate campaigns, then we confirm the charges of the Democrats that we aren't serious and can't win.
OK, its not hard to see how Mr. Nader and Ms. McKinney could combine campaigns. Their positions are relatively close to each other. But sure its impossible for the Greens and the Libertarians to unite, isn't it?
Here's how its done. The groups all agree to agree on what they agree on. What is the result of that Yogi Berra-ish sentence? What do they agree on? They agree on ending the war. They agree on bringing our troops home? They believe further in a general change in foreign policy of being less militaristic and imperialistic. They agree that our current government is corrupt and in the hands of special interests. They agree on ending secret detentions and domestic spying and torture. They agree we need to break the two-party monopoly and reform our system of elections to make them free, fair, honest and transparent.
When we win, that's a rather large action list for a two-year period before the next Congressional elections in 2010. So, that's plenty to agree on. Thus, even though the Greens and Libertarians might disagree on economics and health care and so many other things, it doesn't matter. The only thing the parties need to do is to agree that when they win they won't act unilaterally in these areas over the objections of their coalition partners.
The benefit is that we now get to run one and only opposition campaign for President. Now our votes are unified behind one candidate, while the pro-corporate votes are split. Remember, its a winner-take-all election, and this gives us our best chance of winning. And we have to win to break the locks on the system. We know neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are going to break their two-party lock on the system. We know neither will create elections that aren't decided by money. We know neither will introduce reforms like proportional representation and instant run-off voting.
Unless we can win, all of these blocks to democracy will remain. And we'll constantly be locked-out underdogs fighting from outside to try to change the system. And the only way we can win that fight is to win a winner-take-all election, then take power and introduce the real changes we need to occur.
Furthermore, this needs to happen not only at the Presidential level, but also at elections all the way down the line. We need to have single unity opposition candidates in every House and Senate race. And beyond that we need to be competing to take back our country at the state and local levels of government.
So, let the candidates campaign for awhile to determine who is the strongest candidate. But at some point, and I'd say not later than Labor Day, they need to settle that and unite behind whomever is the strongest candidate. This is the only way to really change this country. Anything less is failing the need to act effectively and rationally to return our country to be a land of the free governed by the people, of the people and for the people.
When we've taken back our country, and we've reformed our political system such that its a true democracy that represents the will of the people, then I'd be happy to see the Libertarians and the Greens and any others debate their ideas for the best policies of the nation. But for today, that's a hopeless act of pride and we need to unify to win and make the changes we know this land requires.
