----------

When I cast my vote this November, I intend to cast it in favor of progressive ideas and grassroots action. I'm going to support a genuine alternative to a closed system where two parties often act with a single agenda -- an agenda which simply does not address the daily reality of millions of citizens. I'm going to lend my voice to the fundamental concept that government should serve the needs of the people, not a handful of multinational corporations.

In other words, I'm voting for Ralph Nader.

If you're talkin' policies, my decision has never been simpler. Nader speaks openly against the death penalty and in support of women's rights, plus his environmental stand is exemplary. Nader and the Greens also want to cut military spending, end the drug war and attack poverty at its systemic roots. They represent the best way to follow through on the groundswell of anti-capitalist activism currently uniting progressives across traditional boundaries of gender, class and generation. I don't expect him to win, of course, but I know that a vote for him truly counts over the long haul, because it's helping to bust open the stifling two-party stranglehold on our system and bring progressive voices into the national political discourse which has for too long been dominated by moderates and hyperconservatives.

'Course, there's just one little hitch.

The way the electoral college works, a majority of votes for a given candidate wins the whole state, and there are certain states where Gore or Bush will be clear winners. In my home state of New York, for instance, it's easy to vote for Nader without worrying that I am vicariously aiding and abetting a Bush victory.

But in the so-called swing states (currently Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin), a Green Party vote really does mean that Bush comes one vote closer to winning. While I am sensitive to the power of a symbolic protest vote, there are larger issues at stake in this election. It's true that Democrats and Republicans have grown disturbingly similar to each other, but there are still profound differences between their agendas. If I found myself in a swing state, I'd remember the record number of executions Governor Bush has authorized in the state of Texas, for instance, and I'd think long and hard about the bleak future of women's reproductive rights in a Republican-controlled White House. And my vote would go to Al Gore.

I firmly believe that if all of us progressive thinkers around the country collaborate in a thoughtful strategy, we can achieve the dual goals of getting the Green Party on the ballot for future elections and getting Gore into the White House, thereby preventing the tragedy of a Baby Bush administration.

Because my vote does count, this year more than ever. The choice may not be cut and dried, but one thing is obvious: I don't want an even dumber (can you say "inbreeding"?) Bush in office, and I don't want my actions to allow that to happen.

-- ani difranco

Salon News A Salon-eye view of the day's news, with investigative reports, analysis and interviews with newsmakers.