A reality check
Shortly after the 2016 election, I had a conversation with a friend, a registered member of the Green Party. In this conversation he told me he had voted for Jill Stein, the Green candidate for president. He said he voted his conscience and it made him feel good to do so.
I asked him how long it made him feel good. He hesitated. I asked if he “felt good” after President Donald Trump nominated Scott Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Again, he paused. I asked, “Did you still feel good when Trump nominated Ryan Zinke to head the Department of the Interior?”
I couldn’t resist the final question. “Did you feel good when Trump pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accord”? He really squirmed. After all, it was Pruitt and Zinke who led the rollback of environmental protection legislation and the shrinking of public lands, including national monuments, both sacrosanct Green Party policy positions.
I stopped there. He was clearly uncomfortable having to defend his vote and accept some responsibility for Trump’s election.
On Nov. 6, 2016, many of you, like my friend (and myself), went to bed believing we would wake up the following morning to the news that Hillary Clinton had been elected President. Instead, we learned Trump was now the 45th President of the United States.
Beyond surprise, what was your reaction? A strong desire to go back to bed and hide under the covers? Were winters in Canada really that bad? Over the past almost four years, we’ve had to stand by and watch Trump and his minions trash the environment and threaten the future of the planet as well as our very democracy itself.
When my friend voted for Jill Stein on Nov. 6, 2016, he had the luxury of believing he could vote his conscience, feel good about it and end up with Hillary who, while not perfect, had a tolerable position regarding the environment.
He will not have that luxury in 2020. We have to accept the real possibility that Trump will be reelected to a second term. We also have to accept the reality that Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, or any other third party candidate, will not be elected president any time soon.
I ask you to face those realities and vote for the individual who stands the best chance of being elected and who most closely aligns with your platform goals. And, I will leave you with this final bit of information. In 2016, Jill Stein won more votes than Donald Trump’s margin of victory in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Don’t concentrate on making yourself feel good. Do what’s best for this country and the planet. Vote and vote in a way that matters.