By Glen Mowrer
Published March 24th 2003
Re "Antiwar Stance Risky for Democrats," March 20: George
Skelton repeats the simplistic canard that the Green Party is
responsible for putting George W. Bush in the White House. The
argument is that had Ralph Nader voters not voted for him in the
Florida election they would have voted for Al Gore. What Skelton and
others refuse to acknowledge is that, absent the option of voting
for a true progressive, the Green voters would most likely have not
voted at all.
Remember that the voter turnout in the last presidential
election was among the lowest ever. It is the failure of the
Democrats and Republicans to offer thoughtful and substantial
candidates that has turned off the voters. One of the benefits of
"instant runoff" voting is that it will attract
voters who otherwise refuse to participate in choosing between
candidates who offer no meaningful choice. And, yes, having come to
the polls to vote for a candidate they believe in, they probably
would vote for the lesser of the remaining evils as a second option.
It is for this reason that the major parties should support instant
runoffs.