I’d like to commend Jen Kistenmacher for using her column to encourage people to vote. However, she perpetuates the fallacy of the two-party system. Despite what Ms. Kistenmacher says, there are more than two candidates running for office.

Ms. Kistenmacher is guilty of encouraging people to choose between the lesser of two evils, however they may define the lesser. That’s not the way democracy is supposed to work. Every citizen should vote for the candidate that best supports their views.

If that candidate is a Republican or a Democrat, then your choice is easy. If you don’t agree with either of those, then your task becomes much more difficult thanks to the stranglehold these two parties have on the political process.

Is it realistic to expect that everyone in the United States, with their differing philosophies and economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, will agree with one of two platforms, when these platforms have as many issues in agreement as disagreement? No, of course not.

There are other options. You won’t see them in the debates because the Republicans and Democrats have stacked the system against third parties, but they are out there.

If you like hearing Gore blast the big corporations for their treatment of the elderly and the middle-class, or the idea of getting soft money out of politics, read up on Ralph Nader. He has spent most of his life fighting the big corporations on behalf of the consumer, and campaign finance reform is serious business to him, not just an empty promise.

If you like it when Bush talks about putting values back into public life, or his unabashedly Christian viewpoint, check out Pat Buchanan. The man has a Prayer Brigade as part of his campaign. `Nuff said?

There are many others too. Open your mind to third-party possibilities. Find out what they really stand for.

A quick search of the Internet will give you all the information you need to make an informed choice. Is a little research too high a price to pay for true democracy?

Choose Democrat, choose Republican, choose Green, Reform, Socialist, Libertarian, Labor or any other. Just make sure it is an informed choice according to your conscience.

Voting for the lesser of two evils is as much a waste of democracy as not voting.

Matthew Burack

Alumnus

Ames