Election 2000

DEFIER VOTE 2000

Check back here for post-election analysis.
Meanwhile send your thoughts on the election to:

Jump to the full essay by Ivor Balin Pannell, S.C.A.R.E. Founder, on his reflections on the 2000 Election and the future of Defiers by clicking on the title below...
The Politics of Power/The Power of Politics:
A Prescription for Jumpstarting Sickle Cell Community Activism

Introduction of Defier Vote 2000 Page
So, here we are again... another election year. Who's running this time? How many public offices are up for contention in this year's election? I know that the big one (the presidency) is this year. But what about the U.S. Congressional seats? Is my U.S. senator running? How about my local U.S. representatives? Who are the candidates this year? Will they be interesting, thought provoking public servants that inspire us? Or, will it be business as usual with run of the mill candidates campaigning on run of the mill platforms?

Should I vote democratic? Should I vote republican? Or, should I vote for an independent party candidate this year? I know there are some that are running, but I have no idea who they are. And even if I did, where would I turn to find out more information about that candidate, and what distinguishes him or her from the others? And what about my current party affiliation? Am I satisfied with my present party choice? Or, should I change it? If I do, should I limit my choice to just the democratic and republican camps? What about choosing an independent party for membership? If so, where can I go to find information about that independent party's political platform? Besides, does it really make a difference if I vote at all? I mean, whomever it is that ultimately wins the elections, will they really be accountable to me? It seems that every time there's an election you can't turn around without bumping into one of the candidates, or seeing them on television. But when that same election is over, you never seem to see them again.

And that "lesser of two evils" business! Is it just me, or are you also getting tired of voting for a candidate not because you believe in him or her but, instead, because you don't believe in the other one? Instead of voting for a candidate, you end up voting against a candidate. Can I even stomach doing that again? What about not voting at all? I don't mean the kind of "not voting" that emanates from a sense of civic laziness; I mean the kind of "not voting" that emanates from electing to abstain. I mean, why should I even bother if there's not a single candidate running who, in my judgment, is capable of doing a good job? So why go to the trouble?

If you are a member of the sickle cell community who has been turned off to politics in general, you have probably asked yourself some of these questions from time to time. Well we, the publishers of defiers.com, sympathize with you. In fact not only do we sympathize, but more importantly we have asked ourselves what can be done to address this problem. It was then that the following thought occurred: Wouldn't it be great if there was one place on-line that one could go that would provide as much information as possible on all the candidates running, all the parties and all the platforms? Moreover, wouldn't it be even more exciting if all this information were analyzed in the overall context of the sickle cell community experience?

Well, the wait is over! Introducing: Defier Vote 2000. With this brand new addition to our defiers.com website, members of our community will for the first time be able to research information concerning all the candidates running for office and their respective platforms, as well as information about the parties they're representing. Furthermore, with defiers.com's open submission policy, any member of the community can contribute their thoughts about this year's elections to be published right on the Defier Vote 2000 page. In fact, we have kicked the page off with the publication of a new essay entitled, The Politics of Power/The Power of Politics: A Prescription for Jumpstarting Sickle Cell Community Activism, authored by defiers.com publisher and S.C.A.R.E. president, Ivor Balin Pannell.

Now, it is not the intention of the publishers of this site to influence anyone to our way of thinking. We have absolutely no interest in pushing our own personal political perspectives down anybody's throat. Whatever information this page provides, as well as commentary authored by S.C.A.R.E., will be completely non-partisan in nature. Our sole objectives are (1) to inform, (2) to incite dialogue and (3) get folks involved in the political process. In fact, the old excuse "I'm not even registered to vote so why should I bother?" won't hold any water in this case because we have even included an on-line voter registration form on the Defier Vote 2000 page. This way a member of our community who is currently unregistered can actually register to vote right on-line, thereby removing any obstacles from that person's full access to our national democratic process.

Therefore, it is the considered opinion of this site's publishers that a primary and essential step toward the ultimate achievement of a politically empowered sickle cell community is the initiation of a comprehensive political dialogue of national, and even international, scope. Consequently, we maintain if this is the step our people have to take to move forward, then by all means... let us take it!

The Publishers
defiers.com

Note: Please direct all submissions to

Read one defier's response to the above essay.

IMPORTANT LINKS:
OFFICIAL PARTY SITES
DEMOCRAT
GREEN PARTY
LIBERTARIAN
REFORM
REPUBLICAN

CANDIDATE SITES
BROWNE (Libertarian)
BUCHANAN (Reform)
BUSH (Republican)
GORE (Democratic)
HAGELIN (Reform)
McREYNOLDS (Socialist)
NADER (Green)
PHILLIPS (Constitution)

OTHER HELPFUL SITES
HealthCampaign2000.org
Health Care and The 2000 Election: The Positions and Records of Candidates Bush and Gore
--HealthCampaign2000.org is a project of Families USA, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization
ROCK THE VOTE
The League of Women Voters
Smart Voter- Nonpartisan Election Information
VOTER.COM
GovSpot" the government information portal of the Web"

And for New York City voters there is:
SAVVYVOTER.ORG

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