99 Reasons to Vote for Kerry

Let's see if we can do this by election day.

Reason #1: Not voting for Kerry is a vote for Bush. This is the premise of many reasons to come, a meta-reason. If you stay home, you're playing into Bush's hands, because suppression of the vote favors his re-election. And I hope we've all learned the Nader lesson. Even here in California, it's important to vote for Kerry. The polls show Kerry is farther ahead in Maryland than he is in California.

Reason #2 You hope to take a trip out of the country in the next four years. The New York Times had an item about a reporter covering a conference in Italy buying postcards, and asking to buy stamps to send them to America. The man behind the counter said one word, or expletive: Boosh. And turned his back, refusing to sell him anything. Everybody who has been to Europe or Australia or even Canada in the past couple of years has similar stories. I've noticed that in those interviews with "swing" voters, it often comes up: people who have been abroad have a whole new perspective on what the U.S. is doing, and how it is perceived.