| sky_mykyta on 31 Oct 2000 04:14:07 -0000 |
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| [Nettime-bold] NYTimes.com Article: The Protest Vote |
This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by Sky Mykyta sky_mykyta@corrs.com.au. nettime No matter which way people are voting, the mere fact that they will take the time to vote is a good thing. In a country like the US, where the voter turnout is dismal, it's great to see someone inspiring normally disenfranchised people to feel that their votes can actually count. My two cents :), Sky Sky Mykyta sky_mykyta@corrs.com.au /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Sign up for NYTimes.com's Campaign Countdown E-mail With the presidential election around the corner, we are offering a daily campaign e-mail to bring you the latest developments in the race for the White House. Our Campaign Countdown e-mail will include information on the candidates' daily activities, the latest campaign news, the most important poll results and more. http://email.nytimes.com/email/email.jsp#campaign?eta4 \----------------------------------------------------------/ The Protest Vote http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/30/opinion/30SAFI.html October 30, 2000 ESSAY By WILLIAM SAFIRE WASHINGTON The Desperation Index, a reliable election indicator, shows the Gore campaign rocketing up the desperation charts. Only yesterday, Joe Lieberman after renewing his offer of respects to America's most virulent anti-Semite found nothing wrong with a TV spot paid for by the N.A.A.C.P. that associates George W. Bush with dragging a black man to death. While Republicans condemn such below-the-belt ads by extremist supporters, desperate Democrats accept all the racist or senior-scaring help they can get. Nowhere is Democratic desperation more evident than in the liberals' savaging of Ralph Nader. The same crowd that stood on principle for Pat Buchanan's right to draw votes from Bush now frantically accuses Nader of hypocrisy, egomania and unforgivable spoilerism for daring to offer voters a chance to voice their protest. Certainly the enthusiasm for Nader in "safe" Democratic states has given disaffected liberals a place to go other than to Bush. But let's take a closer look at the conventional wisdom as expressed by Minnesota's Democratic chairman, Mike Erlandson: "I don't think there are a lot of Bush votes hiding in the Nader vote." That's based on what happened in 1968, when George Wallace's support "came home" to Hubert Humphrey in the final weeks. But though the message of "not a dime's worth of difference" in major parties is central to Nader's campaign, the nature of the protest vote has changed. I think the legion of liberal Nader- bashers is mistaken. I suspect that at least one in three of those in the electorate now leaning toward Nader would otherwise be voting for Bush. Who are these right-wing protest voters? Among them are hard-hat union types, frustrated at the support of Nafta by both Bush and Gore and the fecklessness of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. With the Reform Party split and the collapse of Buchanan's campaign, they have gravitated to Nader; the more the liberals attack him, the more that iso-conservatives are willing to overlook his far-out greenishness. Another segment of Nader's Republican support comes from small-business owners and employees. They see both Republican and Democratic leaders acquiescing in the most competition-crushing mergers of corporate giants. Years ago, the G.O.P. was the champion of trust-busting and the protector of diversity in the marketplace, but now smaller entrepreneurs, mom- and-pop businesses and farmers have no political home. Nader is their way of sending fat cats a message. Others on the right feel that their personal privacy is under attack and neither major party gives a hoot. They on this particular subject, make that "we" don't like being crowded by ever-increasing government surveillance or stalked by a growing army of Internet commercial snoops. Libertarian conservatives worry about financial and academic records, as well as medical records and pharmacy bills, being passed around by conglomerated banks, insurance companies and H.M.O.'s. Personal freedom is diminished when the most intimate secrets can be monitored by employers and merchants. Nader declares "the use and sale of Social Security numbers by private firms and most government agencies should be banned." Gore says so, too, but Clinton has waffled. Bush's Senate ally, New Hampshire's Judd Gregg, is pushing a bill to exempt commercial snooping firms from state laws that would protect citizens from the sale of S.S.N.'s. Privacy advocates, long disillusioned by the Democratic White House, were stunned at how easily Republican leaders were manipulated by credit-agency lobbyists. Protest movements grow when people doing a slow burn on specific issues have no place else to go. Nader offers a healthy outlet for outrage. Contrary to Nader's claim that he's running against Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Bush and Gore differ on plenty taxation, education reform, missile defense but where they fail to compete, the consumer advocate offers millions a way out of apathy. Today the 66-year-old Nader drives desperate liberals up the wall by draining more of "their" votes; tomorrow he may wipe the smirk off conservative faces as he siphons off more votes loyal Republicans presume to be "ours." But the votes he gets are not any party's votes. Each one is a voter's protest vote that says to major-party pols: don't take me for granted. The New York Times on the Web http://www.nytimes.com /-----------------------------------------------------------------\ Visit NYTimes.com for complete access to the most authoritative news coverage on the Web, updated throughout the day. Become a member today! It's free! http://www.nytimes.com?eta \-----------------------------------------------------------------/ HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact Alyson Racer at alyson@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list Nettime-bold@nettime.org http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold