Steve Cobble, political consultant; progressive strategist father to two young women; former political director of the Rainbow Coalition; former McGovern county coordinator in New Mexico and elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention as a twenty-year-old in ’72; national delegate coordinator for Jackson in ’88, strategist for Nader in ’00, strategist for Kucinich in ’04 and occasional Nation contributor writes:

“Maybe you’re young, and against the war. Or you’re blue-collar, and think both major parties are just fronts for the big corporations. Or you think Bush is a liar, but Kerry’s too cautious to win your heart.

“So you’re still thinking about voting for Ralph Nader, or David Cobb. But you also live in a swing state, and you know it’s close. You know it could go either way in Wisconsin, or New Mexico, or yes, Florida.

“And it does make you mad that George W. Bush thinks he can start an unnecessary war and lie to the American people about it. You are disgusted that Enron was Bush’s #1 career backer, but when Ken Lay got in trouble, the media let Bush get away with pretending they barely knew each other. And you’re really angry about Halliburton, outsourcing and repeated tax cuts for the already rich.

“So you’d like to help Bush lose, too. He just doesn’t deserve another term. What do you do? Well, most of the Citizens Committee that endorsed Ralph Nader in 2000 has signed a public statement encouraging people who admire Nader and Cobb in swing states to cast their vote for Kerry. The group includes progressives Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Susan Sarandon, Bonnie Raitt, Barbara Ehrenreich and many more. So you could take their advice. (Click here to see the complete list.)

“Or if not casting your vote for Nader or Cobb is still too much, then why not “vote-pair“? Vote-pairing is legal and constitutional lawyers like Jamin Raskin designed the site using freedom of speech and freedom of association law. It’s technically sweet and is staffed by smart and enthusiastic volunteer activists who believe both that third parties often serve a useful purpose and that George W. Bush needs to be defeated this year. (Vote-pairing also ‘jiu-jitsus’ the stupidity and racism inherent in the outdated electoral college system, in a way that reduces the so-called ‘spoiler’ problem.)

“Here’s how it works: If you’re a swing state voter who likes Ralph Nader or David Cobb, you can pair-up with a Kerry supporter from a safe red Bush state (like Utah or Oklahoma or Texas) and essentially swap votes. This way candidates like Nader and Cobb will receive the same number of votes nationally they would have received otherwise and so will John Kerry. But with vote-pairing, Kerry’s vote will be in the swing state, the one that counts in the electoral college–a huge difference. Click here for more info and to sign up for vote-paring before it’s too late.

“You can have your electoral cake, and eat it, too. On election night. With champagne. When we celebrate regime change at home, together.”