Congratulations to the Green Party! In the span of two short years (that felt like two long years),we have nearly realized its 2000 Death Wish for America. This road to political hell was paved with good intentions by a well-intentioned third party and, by golly, we're almost there!! Thanks to the tunnel vision of Green Party members in Florida and undoubtedly other states, we can sit by helplessly for at least two more years while Bush, Lott, and Hastert have their way with the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, Iraq, and the federal judiciary. While the flames of Republican hellfire lick around us, do you think we'll hear any more rhetoric from the Green Party during that time about "not a dime's worth of difference between the two political parties"? Green Party members got a little ahead of themselves after the Clinton years and, as a result, the most environmentally aware major party candidate in American history has left the field and probably won't be back. Now I'm sure our Green friends among us are hard at work on their rationalizations about their party's role in all this impending trouble. Our Amherst Select Board chairman, in the Town Meeting debate on instant runoff voting Nov. 6, referred to an adage that I hadn't heard before, that "the best way to make a party pay attention to you is to make it lose." I have no idea whether he is a Green Party supporter or not. But if the Greens are adopting that logic, I would ask, at what cost? Progressives and even zealous moderates find themselves on the left of the spectrum in this Age of Limbaugh and Fox News. But many of us don't want to be part of the Chicago Cubs of politics: we want to win! American politics is still about good old boring coalition-building. Jesse Jackson has understood that for decades. A group of suburban and college-town mugwumps will not by itself turn this country around. You can't just stand in a closet and declare that you know what's best for working people and the poor, if they are not listening to you or voting with you. The Greens can change course effectively by fielding a candidate in the Democratic primary process, starting in Iowa in 2004 and continuing into New Hampshire and beyond, and by bringing their ideas, their energy, and their hopes for America along for the ride. Remember all the free media opportunities that were generated through December, January and February before the 2000 New Hampshire primary, not to mention the states afterward? Wouldn't you like to see the rest of the Democratic field have to respond in person under the hot lights to the Greens' ideas for this country? No more standing outside the TV studio demanding to get in. If there is any power left in good ideas over big money, the ultimate Democratic nominee, while undoubtedly not Ralph Nader, would have to make some accommodation to his followers. No, you won't get all your reforms right away and you'd have to swallow the heady illusion that you are leading some sort of revolution. But you might actually get something done! The Green Party reminds me of the guy that blows all his cash on scratch tickets for that chance to get rich quick, while other around him quietly make money through the slow magic of compound interest. If you feel the way I do, it's time to risk a little incivility and talk back to the Green Party friends around us. We agree on a lot of the goals, but we are killing ourselves on how to get there. Our country has taken a very drastic step backward politically because of Election Night 2000 and the damage will be felt for decades to come: just think of all those young federal judges that will be appointed in the next two years. The Greens were wrong on this important point: it turns out that voting is indeed a lot like driving. You have to do it defensively. Friends don't let friends vote Green, at least not in November presidential elections. Richard Morse of Amherst is an attorney.