I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000

I'd ask your forgiveness, but aren't we past that?

I was a big supporter of Bill Clinton (fellow hillbilly), but the whole Monica Lewinsky mess broke my heart. In a story as old and hackneyed as time, a man in power took that power and convinced a young woman to do things she wouldn’t want to talk about with her mamma. And then we all got to witness the ugly aftermath over and over again.

I was young then, and not terribly in love with nuance. In a decision that would baffle the today’s average Trump supporter, I decided if the leader of the Democratic party couldn’t keep to this one basic rule, I would, in the Year of our Lord 2000, vote my conscience. So when Connecticut’s own activist Ralph Nader launched his second-of-four presidential campaigns, I paid attention. Yes, this was the Green Party without a shot in hell of winning, but Nader seemed to be talking a lot more about social justice issues than were the candidates. Yes, I know now and knew then what happens to third-party presidential candidates. They lose, is what, unless we want to go back to the post-Civil War era.

I wanted to Make A Point and when I went to my local elementary school to cast my vote that day, I flipped the switch for Nader.

As the counting stalled that election night — and stretched all the way to a Supreme Court case (a decision that I, by the way, never thought to discount) — I began to regret voting my conscience, and as George W. Bush set up his administration, I regretted that vote even more. Post-election, I never talked about that vote because I felt personally responsible for the carnage that followed, though I had help from nearly 3 million of my cantankerous friends.

That election gave me a whole new understanding of the consequences of voting my conscience. I would never suggest any one do differently, but this year Jill Stein has again entered the race, and Robert F. Kennedy super-probably is still running, though as an independent.

By all means, vote your conscience, but I intend to go mercenary with my vote. The Democrat party has disappointed me for not being progressive enough, but the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.