I’m writing in response to the letter from Stephen Pearson that appeared in Wednesday’s Post. Stephen writes eloquently about his choice to vote for a third-party candidate. I agree with much of what he says, and I probably agree even more with many of his views on policy. Yet I believe that voting for a third-party candidate is not the most effective use of our voting rights.
I’m fortunate in a lot of ways. I’m not one of the people most likely to be hurt by the policies that will come out of a Romney-Ryan government. I’m not one of the LGBT folks who will not be able to marry the person I love. I’m not one of the women who will find the government telling me I have to have an unwanted child. I’m not one of the young men who may be sent off to a new war, or one of the young adults who will be unable to afford college.
Of course, I may be affected by the loss of health-care benefits or the accelerated degradation of the environment or the decisions made by an increasingly conservative Supreme Court, but I’ll get by. Lots of people won’t get by so easily, lots of real people with real lives who work hard and want a better life.
Barack Obama is hardly the lesser of two evils. He is a decent man severely constrained by the current state of the American political system. It is true the changes some of us would like to see won’t come from his leadership. They won’t come primarily from the political system at all. They will come from the efforts of regular people who insist on change, as the women’s movement and the civil rights movement have shown us.
For 364 days a year, I want to work with people like Stephen for the big changes we know are needed. On the 365th day, I’ll be voting for Barack Obama. His re-election can be another step in moving closer to becoming more of the country of our ideals, where liberty and opportunity and equality and justice are becoming increasingly real.
John Schmieding is a resident of Athens.
