W, Don’t Run!
Parsley, 06/30/04
The 2000 presidential election was one of the most closely contested in American history. In several states, the winning candidate emerged with only a narrow margin of victory over his opponent. Indeed, in Florida the race was so close that the Supreme Court had to get involved in declaring a winner. Naturally the results of the election were and are a source of widely divergent emotions. But some facts are readily apparent to all: in several key states, if George W. Bush had not been on the ballot, Democratic candidate Al Gore would have won handily.
The 2004 election is shaping up to be every bit as close, and the stakes are higher than ever before. In a tight race like this one, every vote counts. To defeat the incumbent, Democrat John Kerry will need broad support from the liberal base. For this reason, we ask you to join our campaign to discourage George W. Bush from running for President in 2004.
Bush has had a noteworthy career in business and public service, and fully deserves the reputation he has gained. But a run for president in the current political climate could have disastrous consequences for the nation and for Bush’s personal legacy. Every vote cast for George W. Bush is a vote taken away from Kerry and, in essence, “given” to the incumbent. That’s something we can hardly afford this year.
Look at the 2000 General Election Results. In every state where Bush received at least 51% of the popular vote in the last election, the state’s electoral votes went to the Republican candidate instead of Democrat Al Gore (source: Federal Election Commission). Similar results in 2004 could easily cost John Kerry the presidency. But if Bush had not been on the ballot in 2000, and the majority of Bush voters had instead supported the Democratic candidate, Gore would have come through with a commanding lead.
You’ve probably seen the famous “Red and Blue States” map showing which states were won by each of the leading candidates in 2000, with Democratic states shown in blue and Republican ones in red. Now look at this map. It’s a mathematical projection of how the race might have ended if George W. Bush hadn’t participated. As you can plainly see, without Bush on the ballot Al Gore could have easily won a significantly greater number of electoral votes.
Now, we don’t know why Bush is planning to enter the race this year. Maybe he fails to understand the gravity of the situation before us. Maybe his past accomplishments have given him a distorted view of his own suitability for the job. Perhaps he just received bad advice. What we do know is that in 2004 the Green Party has refused to endorse Bush, as have many celebrities active in the 2000 campaign, including film maker Michael Moore, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and actress Susan Sarandon. So who is supporting Bush this year, anyway?
It’s one of the worst-kept secrets of this political season that George W. Bush’s campaign is being bankrolled and supported in large part by Republican front groups who recognize that Bush’s presence on the ballot will only hurt Kerry’s chances and thus help the incumbent. These “supporters” have been leading the effort to get W. on the ballot in as many states as possible, despite the absence of Green Party backing. This kind of behavior isn’t illegal, but it’s frankly distasteful and we can’t figure out for the life of us why so many of the 2000 Bush backers don’t realize they’re only helping out the Republicans if they vote Bush again this year.
We at “W Don’t Run” are aware that John Kerry might not have been the first choice for some progressive voters, but a vote for George W. Bush will only help the Republican candidate win in important swing states. If you support Bush’s positions on the issues, support Kerry in defeating the incumbent so that we can all work together to improve our country. Whatever your feelings about Bush and Kerry, we can all agree that the first priority needs to be getting the current president out of the White House. Contact George W. Bush through his campaign website and send him a message loud and clear: for the good of our country, W, Don’t Run!