Selection 2004: The Real Reason to Vote

There has been all sorts of talk about whether Kerry (or possibly Edwards, and formerly Dean) is “electable”, and about the importance of getting Bush out of office.  But I think these comments forget something.

Getting Bush out of office is not the goal here.

Or rather, it’s only part of the goal.  Bush isn’t a monolith, a king, a micro-manager.  He isn’t behind all the decisions and all the politicking.  His administration is.

In other words, if we get rid of Bush, we also get rid of Karl Rove.  We get rid of Donald Rumsfeld.  We get rid of John Ashcroft.  We get rid of Dick Cheney.  (We also get rid of Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Christine Todd-Whitman, and other lesser darknesses.  It’s less clear that there’s any vast benefit there, but I’m happy to throw out those bath toys when we drain the dirty bathwater.)

So remember when it comes to voting: you aren’t just voting for the lesser of two individual evils, you are voting to oust an entire corrupt and distasteful suite of evils.