Vote Democrat - the lesser of the two evils

While waiting for one of those fine establishments to call me about the summer jobs I had applied for, I suddenly had a realization the other day. I was sitting in my non-air-conditioned off-campus apartment, watching Blind Date, pondering over the status of the American political system. And I realized that the world would be a much better place if everyone would just let me be World Dictator.

It is not that I have some weird, maniacal desires, or that I do not support that whole democracy thing. I just have come to realize that the Democratic Party has been taking my little queer vote entirely for granted because voting Republican is not an option for me. In other words, I am mad as hell.

So it might be a bit of a stretch to say that Blind Date and summer laziness led to my mind-blowing epiphany. My path to enlightenment began long ago. I got a little frantic before the election at the thought of George W. Bush becoming the next president -- I will admit it. So I ignored the fact that, well, Gore had sold "my people" out. Instead I focused all of my energy and rage on my poor, moderately conservative father, telling him over email and the phone, "You do realize that Bush is really, really evil and hates me, right?"

By the time November, I mean January, rolled around, and I accepted that, in fact, my worst fears had come true--a Republican House, Senate, and President, oh my -- I got even more frantic. I wrote and called my father more often, telling him, "You do realize that you voted for a man who wants to literally kill your daughter, right?" and "You do understand that that `tax cut' will be much smaller than the cost of supporting me for the rest of my life because I have absolutely no job protection..." And my father began to wonder why on Earth he had encouraged me to talk to him about politics when I was younger. For some reason, it seemed like a good idea then.

My fear and anger towards the Republican Party overshadowed my less severe qualms with the Democratic Party -- they do not address any Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender rights' issues, really, or for that matter, most issues facing other minority groups. I am a pocketed vote. I cannot vote Republican because, well, that is masochistic. But, at the same time, most Democrats really have not been fighting to support me or to keep me voting for them. We all know that, being a socially conscious collegiate lesbian, I pretty much have to be Democrat -- the Democratic Party is the lesser of two evils.

During the debates, Gore said he supported "civil unions," but not "gay marriage," instead of reacting with vocal outrage and righteous indignation as I would if I heard that statement from a friend, family member, classmate, or random person on Locust Walk. I thought, "Well, that's better than nothing," and urged my family members to vote Democrat. In the race to win the support of the moderate American voters that the increasingly conservative Republican Party has left behind, I have now been left behind, along with a large group of other people.

Lest you fear that this will descend into some lamentation about how I should have voted with my conscience and for Nader (no offense to my little Green buddies), I really do not regret who I voted for. I honestly do not agree with some of the Green Party's positions and am perhaps too pragmatic or cynical to think that my vote would have been a de-facto vote for Bush. I am just merely and thoroughly disillusioned with the political system -- even if all of the liberals and minorities organized into a large voting block, nothing would really happen. In the end, is there really any choice?

From my position, the Democrats have failed to push for issues like civil rights, same sex marriage, institutionalized poverty, racial profiling -- you get the point --for fear of offending some soccer moms. Even as I write this, I am having problems drawing some sort of neat conclusion or resolution, with the exception of moving to another country.

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