Support the third-party threat

Illustration of Dan Nacu.

Daniel Parker
Guest Columnist

In Virginia, we have two major choices for governor: the corrupt religious zealot Republican Ken Cuccinelli or the spineless swindler Democrat Terry McAuliffe. But why should we vote for either?

The “lesser of two evils” paradox only creates more mediocrity. In a battle of two politicians involved in political scandals, the only thing Virginia will be left with is scandal.

In one corner is the self-righteous Cuccinelli, the man who wants to reinstate outdated sodomy laws. He is also in a scandal involving taking ‘political gifts’ worth around $18,000 from Jonnie R. Williams, CEO of Star Scientific Inc., a nutritional supplements company.

The other candidate isn’t looking any better; while Cuccinelli takes “political gifts,” McAuliffe is involved in an even worse scandal. The environmental company that McAuliffe championed and co-founded, Greentech, is under investigation for soliciting loans from investors — something that makes a political gift seem like child’s play. While he doesn’t want to bring us back into the dark ages of civil liberties, as a Cuccinelli administration might do, a potential fraud is not a better option than Cuccinelli.

Now, I know you’re thinking third-party Libertarian candidate Robert Sarvis isn’t going to win anyway, which is likely true, but if he get 10 percent of the vote, Libertarians get public funding, meaning that the floodgates are open and the duopoly of the Democrats and Republicans in Virginia is no more.

The two-party system in this country is severely broken and leaves Americans with no real options when addressing controversial issues. Both parties, for example, believe that privacy is not an option in this age and that NSA wiretapping is justified. The current power structure also holds that indefinite detentions of U.S. citizens are appropriate and should be legally viable for the executive branch. The idea of either party caring about civil liberties seems to be a giant joke — unless you think gun rights is the be-all, end-all civil liberty issue.

While Democrats claim to be against bank subsidies, they frequently cave in to this form of crony capitalism. While some minorities in both parties speak against these bailouts. In the end, their voices are lost under the majority leader’s opinions on the issue.

Whenever I think about how our system has gone down the tubes. I recall the Obama-Romney foreign debate. This debate seemed like some sort of joke as Romney coddled to Obama and essentially said he agreed with anything. While I’m not sure how I stand on drone strikes, it would be nice to hear a politician actually come up with an option that’s different.

When I heard the third-party debates, there was a stark difference that included solutions other than lowering taxes or being tough on terrorism. Viable third parties seem to be our last hope at the precious options that I feel are lost in this country.

Sure, McAuliffe isn’t an anti-gay zealot who will destroy women’s reproductive rights and persecute people for something they do in their bedroom, but is corruption like soliciting still appropriate?

I’m no Libertarian: I don’t agree with most of Sarvis’s platform. But if he receives 10 percent of the vote, we could see the fear of a third option on the ballot brought to politicians currently in state office.

I refuse to feel trapped in our two-party system and vote for the same-old, same-old. You should be tired of this, too. This election, vote for Sarvis and let’s get some real choice in our elections.

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