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Tuesday April 6,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Peter Hockaday
EDITORIAL.
Nader's bid
means new
possibilities
for country
Ralph Nader is a political enigma, more an issue for de
bate than an actual presidential candidate.
Nader was in Portland Monday night, gathering 1,000
signatures so he can get on Oregon's presidential ballot in
November. He's doing this across the country, gathering sig
natures to appear on 52 ballots.
But a signature to put somebody on a ballot doesn't
mean anything. A vote, as we all learned in American histo
ry, is worth much more. We found out exactly how much
those votes matter in the past presidential election.
Some Democrats would like to blame Nader for that
close election in 2000. They blame him for Al Gore's close
loss and point to the more than 97,000 votes he scored in
Florida, a state Bush won by 537 votes officially, almost
2,000 in other counts. In Oregon, Gore won by a slim
6,765 votes in 2000, while Nader received 77,357 votes.
Who knows, they say, what would have happened if Nader
had nabbed 84,000 votes?
First off, it's a myth that only Democrats vote for Ralph
Nader. Maybe Nader only stole votes from Libertarian can
didate I larry Browne in 2000. The common wisdom is that
Nader stole Democrats, but that can't be proved.
Second, welcome to a democracy. The only way to sup
port our government is to give our voters as many choices
as possible. The more choices the better. And this doesn't
even include wnte-in votes. Why aren't people criticizing
Cathy Gordon Brown, the Tennessee native who somehow
pulled in 1,606 votes in 2000?
Nader is, simply, another candidate. We have a two
party system in America, and both parties are strong.
And yes, both parties are in opposition to each other on
most issues. For abortion? Vote Democratic. Like tax
cuts? Vote Republican.
But what if you want somebody who supports gay mar
riage and also wants to crack down on media conglomer
ates? That's Ralph Nader. Maybe Nader's views match up
with yours across the board, more so than any Democratic
or Republican nominee. Are we supposed to have those
people vote for a major-party candidate, simply because
Nader doesn't have a good chance to win the presidency?
Are we supposed to ask voters to sacrifice their political
views for the supposed greater good?
To win the presidency, a candidate has to work. If Nader
is preventing you from winning, maybe you weren't meant
to be in the White House anyway.
So all the detractors need to back off, stop worrying
about Nader and start focusing on how they can help
their own candidates.
In 1968, George C. Wallace garnered the most electoral
college votes, 46, of any third-party candidate in American
history. Wallace was an ultra-conservative governor of Al
abama who was notorious for his extreme racism. But Wal
lace's success didn't hurt Republican candidate Richard
Nixon, who easily won the presidency by 110 electoral-col
lege votes (Bush won the 2000 election by five electoral-col
lege votes). The actual vote was closer — Nixon won by
510,314 votes — but Wallace never prevented his conserva
tive counterpart from making it to the White House.
Third parties, fourth parties and fifth parties are good for
the democratic process. Don't blame Nader for trying.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Brad Schmidt
Editor in Chief
Jan Tobias Montry
Managing Editor
Peter Hockaday
Editorial Editor
Jennifer Sudick
Freelance Editor
Ayisha Yahya
News Editor
Eric Layton Illustrator
Politics of division
Our president isn t talented in many ar
eas. He doesn't talk so good and he has now
literally made a joke of his foreign polides.
But George W. Bush is very good at one
thing: Division.
I'm not talking about eighth-grade, get
up-in-front-of-the<lass division. I don't
think Bush could divide 56 by 12. I'm talk
ing about partisan-politics division, and
our president is more partisan than the Re
publican elephant himself. Eventually,
Bush's division of America will only serve
to weaken our country.
Bush, of course, has campaign commer
cials that blast Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.,
for various reasons. One discredits Kerry
for being "wrong on defense." The ad says
Kerry will weaken the USA PATRIOT Act
and that Kerry wanted to wait for United
Nations approval to enter Iraq.
While those issues are for another col
umn, another time, the point is that Bush
has always and will always divide America
along these "patriotic" lines.
If you think the PATRIOT Act is quasi
McCarthyism because it essentially lets the
government spy on Americans, then you're
practically a terrorist yourself. If you're ap
palled by the fact that 610 American sol
diers (470 since the War "ended," as of
Sunday) have died in Iraq, you might as
well move to Germany and wear
lederhosen on Saturdays.
I know, these catty commercials come
out every four years. The Democrats do it
just as much as the Republicans. Kerry
even has a feature on his Web site that al
Peter Hockaday
Today is Hockaday
lows you to vote in the "Final Four of most
embarrassing Republicans." It's all just
dassic attack politics.
But the difference with Bush is that he's
aligned himself with patriotism. He is Un
cle Sam. If you're against him, you're
against America. And nobody wants to be
un-American. Heck, I feel un-American for
writing this column.
In a democracy, we should be able to
criticize our government without feeling as
guilty as Martha Stewart.
Bush pulls it all off for one simple rea
son: He's strong. Even if every word he says
makes him seem dumber than a signpost,
he absolutely believes it all. I'll admit, it's
infectious. Sometimes I have to slap myself
and listen to the words. Listen to the
words! In 2000, Bush was The Rock to A1
Gore's Pee Wee Herman. Obviously, a few
hundred Florida voters thought that was
enough to elect Bush.
But it's time to look at the facts instead of
the rhetoric. Bush is supposedly strong in
foreign policy, but he has created only death
and distrust in Iraq. He just lost Spain to the
socialists. He has created animosity in the
United Nations because of his false claims
that weapons of mass destruction existed in
Iraq. He treats the rich like one giant buddy
and is destroying our education system with
No Child Left Behind laws.
Don't let Bush fool you with his big words
and ridiculous policies. Fight Bush's division.
Vote Kerry.
Contact the editorial editor
at peterhockaday@dailyemeraid.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Greeks receive unfair bad press
This commentary is in regard to an article
written about fraternity conduct and its rela
tions to University policy ("Fraternity inci
dents elude University sanctions," ODE,
March 12). This commentary is more an in
vitation and challenge to University students
and the community. You could argue many
of the statements and implications being
made about fraternity men and sorority
women could be directed toward other stu
dent groups or university-related organiza
tions as well, but
m n ^ chose to focus
%3# UP 8 on greek life, as
COMMENTARY <“the1E™f>ld
_ Greek lrfe rn
general is the
largest student organization in the ASUO.
And, in my opinion, it is one of the most ac
tive with regard to the fostering of personal
development and community impact, not to
say that other student groups don't share the
same values and goals. It is true that greek life
does have its fair share of problems; however,
they are very specific and, I feel, negatively glo
rified by the press. Who wants to hear about
the thousands of dollars fraternities and
sororities raise for charities? Who wants to
hear about the service that is assisting all as
pects of our community on a consistent ba
sis? Who wants to hear about the Fortune
500 company leaders, or political figure
heads, or number of times a member of one
of our organizations has been in the history
books? Who wants to hear about the sheer
impact this organization has on our beloved
university? Instead of focusing on the suc
cesses, the media focus is on the negative,
based on mistakes that are not exclusive to
our organization. It seems the spodight
shines just a little bit brighter on our parties
and the "rumors." The truth of the matter is,
we are not a perfect group. I want to clearly
get across to our community, by virtue of
having a label, I gladly accept the responsibil
ity that comes with being greek.
What is right about our organization is we
are not afraid to be called out. Come into the
Greek life office, ask us questions, or better
yet, talk to Director of Student Activities
Gregg Lobisser, or speak with Chris Loschia
vo (judicial affairs). Their jobs are to help our
students, and they can provide you with
definitive; reliable answers to your questions.
bo you want to know what fraternity and
sorority life is about? Have you taken the
time to actively seek the truth? Find out if the
rumors are true; find out if we spend more
time planning parties or more time studying
and planning brotherhood/sisterhood
events. Find out if we invest more time in
drinking and causing damages than support
ing one of our struggling brothers or sisters.
Find out and see why we are the biggest stu
dent organization, and why no matter where
you go you will see, hear, or experience a pos
itive reflection of what a greek member has
to offer. All it takes is a little bit of effort and a
conversation. As a matter of fact, this is an
open opportunity to challenge and prove we
are not passive students and that positive ac
tions, although not necessarily getting the
press desired, do cultivate that which is im
portant and relevant to nurturing leadership,
continuing education and creating family.
Jonah Lee is a senior majoring in exercise
and movement science and is a member
of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.