Ken Ficara

McCain just conceded. I’m thrilled and relieved, but this isn’t over.

We have a chance now to get back on our feet, restore some level of moral authority, to stop things from deteriorating further. But we have to work harder now. The hate machine is already gearing up to take back Congress in 2010, to manufacture Obama scandals like they did for Clinton, to continue the “terrorist” smears, to build up the “socialist republic” fears, to send out hysterical letters about President Barack HUSSEIN Obama. And if the Democrats don’t run away with their tails between their legs in the face of those attacks, it will be the first time since LBJ that they’ve done so.

Two things to think about, from opposing columnists the other day in the Times:

The Republican rump, the party that’s left after the election, will be the party that attends Sarah Palin’s rallies, where crowds chant “Vote McCain, not Hussein!” It will be the party of Saxby Chambliss, the senator from Georgia, who, observing large-scale early voting by African-Americans, warns his supporters that “the other folks are voting.” It will be the party that harbors menacing fantasies about Barack Obama’s Marxist — or was that Islamic? — roots.
–Paul Krugman

Look at recent history. Jimmy Carter and a Democratic Congress begat Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton and a Democratic Congress produced Newt Gingrich. Who knows what would follow a President Obama and a Democratic Congress? Here’s one possibility: President Sarah Palin.
–William Kristol

I spent today doing get-out-the-vote work in Pennsylvania, mostly ringing doorbells and giving wavering Obama voters some encouragement and information on where to vote, and offering rides if needed. It felt like useful work, but it was also depressing how many people didn’t seem interested, or were actively hostile.

But ten days in battleground states (I was in West Virginia for the week before the election) did make me seriously doubt the value of phone-banking for your candidate. You would not believe how many phone calls people in West Virginia and Pennsylvania were getting; it was a constant and angry topic of conversation. I was happily surprised at the number of Obama signs even along rural roadways, but the worst comments I heard about him had to do with phone calls. “Those Obama !#$%ers woke me up again last night!” Rural people tend to get up a lot earlier than city people, and phone calls at 9 or 9.30 at night are extremely unwelcome. I personally stop donating to any nonprofit that calls me for donations, so I really wonder if phone-banking turns out voters or turns them off. More than one person said, “I’m sick of the whole thing. I don’t even think I’m going to vote.” I wouldn’t volunteer for that again; I think that staffing voter-information hotlines, or doing polling site protection work, is much more valuable.

So Joe isn’t a plumber, doesn’t pay his taxes, and isn’t even named Joe. And wouldn’t see his taxes increase under Obama’s plan. I’d say that Samuel the Tax Cheat is a pretty ideal illustration of Repugnant fiscal policy.

Once again, we’re getting down to the wire in a very close, and very important, election, and a disturbing number of people seem to be focused not on making sure the best candidate wins, but on supporting third-party candidates whose views better reflect their own, even if they have no chance of winning and in fact are more likely to draw votes from the better mainstream candidate.

I am not a huge fan of Obama. I didn’t even vote for him in the primaries, and I am deeply skeptical that he will be able to make any serious change for the better. But I’m also reasonably confident that he won’t make things significantly worse, which is (much) more than you can say for McCain and his frightening sidekick.

So on a practical level, I will be doing everything I can to make sure Obama wins, including spending Election Day doing get-out-the-vote work in Pennsylvania. (I’ve already voted, via absentee ballot.)

And let’s take a moment to step back and think about the two-party system itself, which so many people seem to think is inherently evil. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, just had a national election. There were four serious candidates in the race, who were represented at all the debates, from the Conservative, Liberal, New Democratic, and Bloc Québécois parties. What essentially happened was that more than half the country voted for a more progressive government, but the Conservatives won the election since the NDP and the Liberals split the progressive vote.

Canada is, for the most part, saner than this country. Religious lunatics have little voice in government, there are actual debates involving actual issues, and corporatism is not quite as rampant. Yet their election went badly not only despite, but because of, their multi-party system.

In countries with a significant proportion of insane religious fundamentalists, a multi-party system is more frightening. It gives the crazies an outsize voice in politics. Look at Israel, where racist right-wing parties can topple governments. So whenever people bring up third parties in this country, I’m always amused that they seem to think Ralph Nadir would be a significant candidate. Hello? If this country ever gets a real third party, it’s more likely to either be a right-wing religious party, or a right-wing Libertarian party. Which might help (by splitting the right-wing vote), but that means you should be hoping a third party forms on the other side, not your own.

So whatever your feelings about the two major candidates, the fact is that one of them will be President next year. You need to decide which one of them reflects your views and vision for this country, and make damn sure he is elected. Distracting yourself and others with talk of meaningless third-party candidates, is worse than pointless.