My open letter to Congressman Ted Strickland:

Dear Congressman Strickland,

At this point in the race for the Governorship of Ohio, I feel it is a good time to step back and assess the goals of your campaign.

As a Democrat, I imagine you got into the race because you, like many of us, have realized the Republican, conservative agenda has done nothing positive for the state of Ohio. I also am certain you recognize that J. Kenneth Blackwell has, like the party he represents, done little to nothing in regards to advancing the interest of Ohio’s people.

I also imagine that you feel you can represent the core values of the party of which you have been a long time member, a party that sits on the left of the political spectrum. From your campaign web page alone I can see you are interested in making health care and quality schooling accessible to all Ohioans, beliefs that are rooted in the progressive values of social justice and equal opportunity.

As I’m sure you know, there is another candidate from the left that is running for Governor, independent/Green Party candidate Bob Fitrakis. While I’m certain you already know much about his candidacy, I feel inclined to mention the fact that he has been fighting for voting rights, most of the time against Republican Gubernatorial candidate Ken Blackwell, long before he ever intended on running for office on such a platform. He’s also an advocate for peace, social justice, and the American laborer. He is the type of guy, whether or not he is a politician, that is firmly grounded in principle, leaving little room for waffling or pandering on critical issues. 

My ultimate fear is that your candidacy will have what is often referred to as a “spoiler effect” on the candidacy of Bob Fitrakis. With such a qualified and electable candidate on the correct side of all the issues, I worry that you may feel guilty if you take progressive votes that should belong to Fitrakis and help J. Kenneth Blackwell get elected. Some may even hold you responsible for getting a corrupted man like Blackwell into the Governor’s mansion.

That being said, progressives like myself are worried that you may split our vote. I think it is safe to say that none of us want to see a repeat of the 2000 Presidential election and that is why I am writing urge you to drop out of the race and throw your support behind a true progressive like Bob Fitrakis.

Bob Fitrakis, because of the limitations put on yourself by being a member of a major party, would be the best choice to advance your agenda, which favors the Ohio worker and the people of Ohio who are working towards greater equality, as well as the agenda of the majority of your supporters. Through him we will see Blackwell held accountable for his rigging of elections, the Ohio National Guard brought home, and health care spread throughout the state. These are goals which you, your supporters, and I would all like to see realized in the near future.

Thank you for your time and I hope you consider the consequences of staying in the race.

Sincerely,
Andrew Warner

Socializer!

del.icio.us

Furl It

Anonymous comments are allowed, but you can log in above to stamp your name and to avoid typing the anti-spam code.

If you are not familiar with our rules for leaving comments, click here!

1. Reginald Van Gleason IV says:
   24 May 2006  at  12:31 pm | #

   Andrew,

   Pull your head out of your ass son. Fitrakis is a fringe candidate and does not have a chance of being elected in Ohio. The only potential spoiler effect is that persons such as yourself who lack any connection to reality will vote for Fitrakis and take votes away from Strickland, who currently leads Blackwell in the polls. You will in effect be casting a vote for Blackwell, and will be helping to elect a radical right wing theocratic demagogue, who’s corrupt actions help Bush steal the Ohio vote.

   Wake up; if you are hitting the bong stop it and sober up. Get real.

   RVGIV

2. Green Machine says:
   24 May 2006  at  12:59 pm | #

   Reginald, you Democrats have a lot to learn about democracy and should stop trying to keep real progressive candidates down. You aren’t entitled to our votes, you have to earn them. If Strickland wants us to vote for him then he should take Fitrkis’ platform. He’s to beholden to corporate money to make a real change.

   We will vote for the best candidate and that is Bob Fitrakis. Will Strickland bring home the Ohio National Gaurd? Will he make an issue of how Blackwell stole the election in Ohio? No he won’t, that would take someone with balls and Democrats don’t have any.
   Democrats talk about health care, but won’t give us a single-payer system for all Ohioians.

   As long as you Dems keep blaming everybody else for your loses to the worst of the Resluglicans, they will keep coming. Democrats need to pull their heads out of their ass’ and represent people, not corporations.

3. Ian Troy says:
   24 May 2006  at  01:04 pm | #

   Oh my lord!  Andrew, you are hilarious!  Have you ever thought about doing stand-up, or perhaps comedy writing?  I know a sketch comedy troupe in Chicago that could use a new writer…

4. Governor Buckwheat Blackwell says:
   24 May 2006  at  01:24 pm | #

   Dear Andrew,

   Thank you for your support! Without the votes of you and your fellow ‘progressives’ I could never have won this race. As your new Governor, I am going to work hard to see to it that our Christian platform becomes a reality in Ohio. I am also going to see to it that the 2008 elections go as smoothly in Ohio as they did in 2004.

   Thank you again for your votes, we could not have made it happen without you!

   Yours in Christ our Lord,
   Governor-Elect Buckwheat Blackwell

   Cc: George W. Bush, Dick Chenney, Jerry Fallwell, Dr. James Dobson

5. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:
   24 May 2006  at  03:48 pm | #

   You forgot Bill Gothard on that CC list!

6. funnelcake says:
   24 May 2006  at  05:43 pm | #

   I am not sure who I want to vote for.  Strickland or Bob Fitrakis.  Bob Fitrakis certainly knows his stuff about electronic freedoms.  I’ll look at both cadidates & if Bob is better I’ll vote for him.

7. Andrew Warner says:
   24 May 2006  at  10:52 pm | #

   Funnelcake,
   It’s too bad the rest of the voters won’t do the same.

8. Reginald Van Gleason IV says:
   25 May 2006  at  12:00 am | #

   Hopefully hardly any will do so. just the same misguided fools that voted for Ralph Nader and Stephanie Dumas.

   RVGIV

9. Andrew Warner says:
   25 May 2006  at  01:11 am | #

   Well at least you can admit you don’t want voters to actually look at candidates and decide on the issues. I guess your party’s only remaining hope is that people will keep their eyes closed, causing them to vote for a party that doesn’t care.

   Don’t compare Ralph Nader to Stephanie Dumas. No offense to Ms. Dumas, but Nader is a legend of activism—it’s truly a disgrace to Democrats what they have done to demonize a man who has done nothing but good things for our county.

   But that’s right, Democrats are void of principles. They’re merely win-at-all cost jackals, and hell… They can’t even do that right.

10. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:
    25 May 2006  at  01:34 am | #

    Reginald, I’m not sure about your logic.  Do you really hope only a handful of voters will assess the candidates open-mindedly and vote for the one who best represents their views?  Do you think people who know about Fitrakis’ positions and vote for Strickland will be selling out?

    Andrew, since you love democracy so much, I’m surprised you’d want to deny Democratic voters the right to vote for their favorite candidate.  I see your point, though - whenever there are more than two candidates, you’re likely to see a spoiler effect.  The problem isn’t people like Fitrakis and Bill Pierce exercising their right to run, the problem is that the plurality/first-past-the-post system doesn’t comfortably accommodate more than two candidates.  Unfortunately, a lot of people let their fear of spoilers blind them to the fact that they should be criticizing the system, not how it’s being used. 

    Instant Runoff Voting is the answer to this conundrum.  Voters get to rank their choices, candidates without enough support to get elected are eliminated during virtual “runoff” rounds of counting - thus negating potential spoilers - and the candidate with a majority of voters’ support wins.

11. Andrew Warner says:
    25 May 2006  at  02:47 am | #

    Josh,
    I kind of wrote this tongue in cheek.

    Us independents or Greens are always told to give up on our candidates. Now Dems have a feel for how absurd it can sound for someone to ask their candidate to step out of a race.

12. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) says:
    25 May 2006  at  07:28 am | #

    I understood; my comment was in the same spirit. 

13. anonymous says:
    25 May 2006  at  05:36 pm | #

    Nader took money from the republicans to stay in the election. His massive ego was just too big for him step aside, even though he clearly didn’t have a smowball’s chance in hell of winning.

    Nader is a fool and a republican stooge. what a disgraceful end for this once great activist. Nader is one sad sack of shit.

    GOP donors funding Nader

14. Michael Altman says:
    26 May 2006  at  03:36 pm | #

    Great article. Good point, well done.