I’ve never voted for a Republican. I’ve rarely voted for a Democrat. Most of my presidential votes have gone to 3rd party candidates.
It is difficult, if not impossible to find a national candidate who represents my values, my Christian values.
None of the establishment candidates who call themselves “Christian” are anything more than establishment hacks who paste a Christian bumper sticker over their predictable, partisan political views. And most of them lie, anyway.
If you think Mike Pence is an honorable man, I’ve got some swamp land to sell you in Florida.
In this regard, the philospher Cornell West is unique. Even though he has no chance of winning, he believes and says the things that I believe. He analyzes the world in the way that I believe it ought to be analyzed. He prioritizes the issues that I believe a Christian public leader ought ot prioritize.
And this is exactly why he will never win. But at least by supporting him we can have a presidential campaign that speaks the hard truths that America needs to hear.
Check out this 30 minute interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald:
Thanks, David. Years ago I ceased regarding my vote as and came to see it as . The former outlook discourages third-party voting, the latter might encourage it.
Chris Hedges interviewed Cornel in 2022 here: https://therealnews.com/the-chris-hedges-report-with-dr-cornel-west
Thanks, Bruce. Thanks for the link to TRN interview. I have admired Cornel for many years. I look forward to his compaign going public more broadly. How have you been?
Looks like some words dropped out of my comment. I ceased to see my vote as selecting a candidate and came to see it as registering my values. I wonder: if everyone treated an election as an opinion poll, might candidates have to pay more attention to the people?
Yes, I agree. I think that registering our values is all we can do given the nature of our political system. Tragically, the values embraced by so much of the church are so pitifully Un-Christlike that our elections are popularity contests that select gangsters like Trump. Our system is so corrupted by big money that I am afraid candidates will never pay attention to the people after they are chosen for office. Money (and schmoozing) got them into power. Money keeps them in power. The will of the people is irrelevant. Sorry, this is my cynicism on display. You may be more optimistic.