Political Contributions

Generally, before a major election, I usually earmark some money for political donations. It's not much (~$50) but it is something for me to take part in the democratic process, especially in years like this when I am not actually physically present in the U.S. to volunteer on election day or in the run up to the elections even.

So today, after much deliberation, I finally decided who was going to get my money. Roughly 60% went to Harold Ford Jr., a Congressman from Tennessee who is now contesting for the seat that Bill Frist is vacating. He would be the first African-American Senator from the South. He is running on a conservative agenda (he is anti-abortion in most cases (but so am I) and he is against gay marriage (and I am very much for it). But this is what is needed to elect someone from the South. And despite this, he still trails his opponent Corker, who is an extremist pro-lifer like Bill Frist, a man under whose leadership in the Senate, real wages have declined for most Americans and the "culture of corruption" has reached its peak.

The reason why Ford Jr. got my money is because he has a fairly good rating on the Defenders of Wildlife's Conservation Scorecard. He is against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, my biggest electoral concern and last but not least, Tennessee is a crucial state that Democrats have to win if we have *any* hope of taking back the Senate (besides keeping off a strong Republican challenge in New Jersey and taking at least two of the following three states: Montana, Missouri, and Virginia. Oh, we also need to ensure that we keep our slim leads in states like Pennsylvania and brace ourselves against the 72-hour Get out the Vote effort by Republicans).

We're placed fairly well to reclaim the House, Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America" lays shattered with DeLay and Foley making a mockery of anything it pretended to stand for, and with Senate in Democratic hands as well, Congress will *finally* be able to provide the kind of oversight and restraint that is all too needed for the current White House administration.

So anyway, that's why Ford Jr. got my vote. He is trailing by a few percentage points according to recent polls, but it's within the margin of error of those polls and anything can happen. Anyway, the remaining 40% of my money went to that champion of conservationists, Washington Senator Maria Cantwell. In conservation circles, her name is synonymous with opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She holds a fairly sizable lead over her opponent in recent polls, 52 percent to 37 percent with 8 percent undecided. So you might ask, why support her? Well, it's a just-in-case kind of thing. Her opponent is well funding by Big Oil and you never know what kind of stunt the Republicans will pull at the last minute. She literally needs every dollar she can get, especially given the history of nail biters that Washington usually produces, remember all the recounts it took for Democrat Gregoire to finally be crowned Governor, and the Republicans still haven't given up!! And you can never discount the great evil that is Karl Rove either.

Another reason for supporting Senator Cantwell is that she must win re-election. Her defeat will be interpreted by the Republican spin machine and broadcast out as saying that the public supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We know that Congress will probably be fairly evenly divided, regardless of who controls it, and such propaganda could well scare moderates in both parties to shift to the pro-drilling camp due to concern over their own careers. Therefore, it is not only important that Sen. Cantwell wins, she needs to win by as big a margin as possible to send out a strong message that the public cares about the sanctity of the ANWR.

Finally, I was debating earlier today the ethicality of donating to political parties and campaigns when arguably, the money would be much better used if given to a charity rather than spent on overpriced, negative campaign ads, etc. Well, I've arrived at the conclusion that political campaigns are a necessary evil. Any money I give to charity will be a drop in the bucket compared to the good that a Democratic Congress can do, whether it is increasing international aid, promoting conservation both in the U.S. and abroad, curbing the trigger-happy attitude of the current administration that spreads suffering, improving the lives of poor people in the U.S. by providing the long overdue increase in minimum wage, repudiate state-sanctioned torture of people labeled as "enemy combatants", restore the Bill of Rights and civil liberties, and the like. Democrats are not perfect, but they're a lot better than what we currently have, and I sincerely believe that although for the moment, my money may be wasted as compared to giving it to a charity, it will pay off in the long term.