_-__ __- 6, 0i - The Michigan Daily - Election Guide 2004 - Thursday, October 28 The Michigan Daily - Election Guide HOW WE VOTED IN 2000 Third party issues range from political left to right By Alex Garivaitis Daily Staff Reporter / / / / / Michigan Popular Vote in 2000 Al Gore George W. Bush 2,170 ,418 1,953,139 51.28%] 46.14% J / / / N / / / / / County Vote in 2000 t Majority Republican Majority Democrat While President Bush and Demo- cratic challenger John Kerry race neck- and-neck toward Tuesday's election, the story of third party candidates has been a struggle to get onto state bal- lots and to convince voters that a ballot cast for them is not a wasted vote. "Third parties are responsible for sys- temic change in this country and always have been," Green Party candidate David Cobb said during a rally at the University last month, emphasizing third parties' contributions to abolishing slavery and promoting women's suffrage. Ralph Nader This year Ralph Nader, the most successful third-party candidate in the 2000 election, broke off from the Green Party and is running as an inde- pendent candidate in some states, such as Michigan, and under the Reform Party on other ballots. Nader emphasizes the general need to shift power from corporations and the wealthy to small taxpayers. He pro- poses eliminating corporate tax subsi- dies and tax cuts for the wealthy. He is also calling for a shift in federal bud- get priorities from defense spending to improving education, public works and pollution controls. "When you have half of the total federal budget operating expenditures going to the military ... you're going to be starving the education sector," Nader said. Nader also promises to "stop the illegal Iraq occupation" by immediately pulling U.S. soldiers out of Iraq. Nader, who has teamed up with Vice Presidential candidate Peter Camejo, also includes among his major issues the implementation of universal health care-offering people the freedom to choose their doctors and hospitals under Medicare-and replacing the health insurance industry. Although Nader's critics claim he will siphon votes away from Kerry on election day, Nader claims that he is more effective than Kerry at expos- ing Bush's weaknesses because the Democratic nominee is too tied down by corporate lobbyists. "He surrounds himself with some of the worst corpo- rate lobbyists," he said. In the 2000 election, running under the Green Party, Nader brought in 2.7 percent of the vote. ing for the government to stop subsi- dizing uncompetitive industries, end tariffs which they believe hurt the gen- eral welfare of consumers and balance the federal budget by cutting spending instead of tax increases. Libertarians also believe in the priva- tization of many public sectors, including energy, education, health care, mass tran- sit and public utility systems. The Lib- ertarians believe private owners would work harder to make a profit than ineffi- cient bureaucrats. Additionally, the party is commit- ted to eliminating all foreign aid and believes the activity of the United States armed forces should be limited to the protection of its borders. The Green Party The Green Party, a self-proclaimed grassroots political movement has yet to achieve success similar to its European counterparts, but the party gained national attention by running Ralph Nader on its presidential ticket in 2000. This year's Green Party candidates, Cobb and running mate Pat LaMarche, are deeply committed to protecting the environment. They advocate a sus- tainable society by preserving natural resources, and stressing conservation instead of the consumption of raw materials, for the good of future gen- erations. They also propose eliminating dependence on nuclear power and oil by shifting to alternative sources of energy such as solar and wind power. The Green Party also promotes organic agriculture systems which replenish topsoil instead of eroding it. The party is committed to with- drawing U.S. troops from Iraq imme- diately and providing free, universal health care. Other parties The U.S. Taxpayers party is running presidential candidate Michael Antho- ny Peroutka with running mate Chuck Baldwin. The Natural Law Party is on the ballot with presidential candidate Walter Brown and running mate Mary Alice Herbert. Among the parties not on the state ballot, but listed on ballots in some other states, is the Socialist Equality Party, with Bill Van Auken running for president and Jim Lawrence for vice president. Nader Badnarik CoDD Ralph Nader, Withdraw troops Eliminate corporE the wealthy, shift Shift funding fron education, librari Offer universal h David Cobb, Protect the envir resources and us such as wind anc Promote organic as conservation i Withdraw troops Offer universal h Michael Bad Decrease goverr life by legalizing eliminating gove Privatize public e believing private Eliminate foreigr they claim amou MAPS: LINDSEY UNGAR SOURCE: USELECTIONATLAS.ORG Percent of Voter Support KEY EVENTS AND TRENDS IN THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN - - --------------- THE Power OF Intellectual Persistence. The technical experts at MIT Lincoln Laboratory are outstanding individual contributors who can excel in a multidisciplinary, team environment. They apply the breadth and depth of their knowledge to rigorous research and analysis of complex problems of national interest. 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The ensuing war would become one of the most contested issues in the campaign race. U.S. troops are still in Iraq today. As of Oct. 25, 2004, there had been 1248 deaths among coalition farces in Brat, 1,10 of which were American soldiers. Sept.16, 2003 U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a Democrat. from North Carolina, officially . declares his candidacy for president. Sept.2,2003 U.S. Sen. John Kerry, a Democrat from Massachusetts, officially declares his candidacy for president of the United States. Jan. 19,2004 Kerry, one of eight candidates seeking the Democratic presidential nomination at the time, won a plurality of the votes cast in the Iowa Democratic caucuses. Kerry garnered 38 percent of the votes in the nation's first primary of the election year, while former Vermont Gov, Howard Dean - a frontrunner for the party's nomina- tion until shortly before the caucuses - came away with a third-place finish at 18 percent. Edwards took second place with 32 percent of the vote share. May 16,2003 I Jan.27,2004 Kerry wins the New Hampshire primary, the nation's second, with 38.4 percent of the vote. The Libertarian Party Libertarians seek to keep the Republicans out of the bedroom and the Democrats out of the wallet. The Libertarian vision of govern- ment is as hands-off as possible. Presi- dential candidate Michael Badnarik and running mate Richard Campagna maintain that citizens should have the right to use all manner of substances, bear any arms and follow any sexual lifestyle, as long as such activities do not violate the rights of other citizens. The party platform stresses com- plete government deregulation of the economy' and financial markets, call- AND TO: * Your Career Center's online r As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we a our vision of diversity and inclusion in ev Due to the unique nature of our work, wI LINCOLN LI MASSACHUSETTS INST wl Computer Science * Mathematics President Bush formally files papers with the Federal Election Commision seeking re-election for president of the United States. Vice President Dick Cheney had declared his spot on Rush's re-election campaign just a week earlier. Dec. 13,2003 Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi dictator, is captured by U.S. forces in Tikrit, Iraq. INFORMATIONAL SESSION: Tuesday, November 2, 2004, 5:30 PM, 1014 Dow Refreshments CAMPUS INTERVIEWS: Wednesday, November 3, 2004