While, Gore beat Bush narrowly here in 2000, that was not thanks to Ed Fallon. See, Fallon decided to betray the Democratic party (and, I believe, the country and the world) by supporting Ralph Nader for president.
This year the choice is between George W. Bush and a Democrat who is to the right of Bill Clinton. I don't begrudge my friends and constituents who plan to vote for Al Gore. I understand their fear of George W. Bush. But voting against somebody isn't enough anymore. If I had three hands maybe I could hold my nose, my gut and my mouth and vote for Al Gore. But in good conscience, I can't, I won't, and you shouldn't either.
He said this, by the way, to students at the University of Iowa. He stoked the anger and dissatisfaction rather than trying to do something about it. As you may know, thanks to Nader and some other factors, America elected George W. Bush as president, with unimaginably destructive consequences.
While perhaps not quite burning-in-hell-worthy like having voted for Nader in 2000 in Florida or New Hampshire (in both of which Gore + Nader was more than Bush, and either one alone would have given Gore the presidency), it was still an act of treason against the Democratic party, and demonstrated either a severe lack of basic math skills (failure to understand the first-past-the-post system) or an unbelievable lack of judgment (failure to realize just how much of a difference there was between Gore and Bush). Both of which, in my mind, disqualify him from ever holding a federal office.
Moreover, Iowa was one of those states close enough to make such an act particularly disgusting. The others, by the way:
Arizona: Gore + Nader was 3.00% behind Bush
Arkansas: Gore + Nader was 3.99% behind Bush
Colorado: Gore + Nader was 2.11% behind Bush
Iowa: Gore won by 0.32%
Maine: Gore won by 5.12%
Michigan: Gore won by 5.14%
Minnesota: Gore won by 2.41%
Missouri: Gore + Nader was 1.71% behind Bush
Nevada: Gore + Nader was 1.08% behind Bush
New Mexico: Gore won by 0.06%
Ohio: Gore + Nader was 1.01% behind Bush
Oregon: Gore won by 0.44%
Pennsylvania: Gore won by 4.17%
Tennessee: Gore + Nader was 2.92% behind Bush
Virginia: Gore + Nader was 5.86% behind Bush
Washington: Gore won by 5.57%
West Virginia: Gore + Nader was 4.58% behind Bush
Wisconsin: Gore won by 0.22%
So, anyway, while I dislike much of Boswell's voting record, he's not a traitor, so he deserves full support in the primary.
