Letter to Candidate Nader: Please Don't Run!

Here is the text of an email I recently sent to Ralph Nader about his decision to run again and possibly botch the Democrats' chance of winning just like he did in 2000. If you feel the same way I do, shoot an email to info@nader.org

Dear Mr. Nader:

I am a 20-year old college student writing to you to ask that you please reconsider your decision to run for for president. In the fall of 2006, I attended a symposium here at Johns Hopkins University in which you spoke for an hour or so about your honorable work and the current status of the nation; I was impressed with your talk, and I had a lot of respect for what you had done to support everyday Americans during your career. However, 2008 is not the time for you to test the political waters for the fourth consecutive time. We are at a critical juncture and possess what may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reverse (or, at the very least, mend) the past eight years of political history to put the United States back on track. This opportunity cannot be wasted and, by throwing your hat into the ring once again, you are risking us doing just that.

Please, Mr. Nader, for the good of the citizens that you claim to support, rethink your decision about running in '08.

Thank you,
Michael Glenwick
Johns Hopkins University
Class of 2010
International Studies and Spanish Double Major

Barack From the Dead

So it's been 2+ months since my last post, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. So...what's happened since my mid-December '07?

1) I went to DJ school in NYC, and didn't really learn to DJ.

2) I went to New Hampshire for seven days before the primary there to canvas for my main man, Barack Obama. It was an awesome, truly incredible experience (even if he lost). More on that later.

3) I went to Israel for ten days on a Birthright trip with a group from Hopkins and Goucher. It was great, as well, some of the best ten days of my life.

Since my deejaying skills (or lack of it) probably aren't too interesting to most people, and my vacation isn't too relevant a month later, the best place to start is with Obama, to whom I gave seven days of my life in early January--including my birthday.

In five vans designed to hold 12 people each, a group of committed NYers did the five-hour drive to Concord, NH where we spent a week in a Red Roof Inn, four to a room. When we weren't sleeping (which was most of the time), we were knocking on doors, waving signs at major intersections, and basically doing anything the campaign needed from us.

Some lessons learned:

1) NH voters are a whole lot more intelligent than the average American. They know how much attention their small primary gets and how much their vote matters. They know about the issues, and they know about all the candidates, Republicans and Democrats. If half of the U.S. knew half as much as New Hampshirites do, we'd be a better country.

2) Barack has a wider, more diverse coalition than anyone in the media will ever give him credit for. Among our volunteers were college students and some folks who had to be in their 60s if not 70s. There were whites, blacks, Latinos, and Asians; men and women; Christians and Jews; rich and poor.

Part of our NY crew talking to a NH voter (in Red Sox cap)

3) A lot of people (at least in NH) despise Hillary. As a proud Democrat, I will support whomever the Party chooses in November, but it's clear that a lot of independent, free-thinking voters (of whom there are many in NH) throughout the country will support McCain come November if Hillary is the nominee. As qualified as she may be (and she is, I think), she's more polarizing than a magnet (sorry, I couldn't resist), and we will have a tough time winning the many independents and significant number of Republicans--or Obamacans, as they are now called--who could be the answer in swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida.

4) The more people get to know Barack, the more they like him, and the more they are ready to support him. When I checked in to the Red Roof Inn, we were 14 points down and came within four points of Hillary. Sure, it was a disappointment but only b/c our hopes were so high. The fact that he made a ten-point jump in seven days was remarkable and a testament to both the strong volunteer support on the ground all over the state and the incredible job of fund-raising the campaign has done.

So, more than a month after the NH primary and two exciting weeks (ten straight!) since Super Tuesday, why bother mentioning the four points above? Because they're all still relevant--maybe even more so than on January 8th--and possible on a larger scale.

1) As much as certain segments of the country care more than usual about the election, most voters across the country haven't educated themselves about the issues that matter and actually gone to the polls in one of the most exciting and critical primaries in decades. Go out and vote. Go to the candidates' websites and watch the debates. It's really not that hard. Billions of people don't get to participate in free elections. Be grateful, and take advantage of your right.

2) Every day, Barack's movement--it's not just a campaign--has brought in more and more people who don't fit the mold that the media has assigned to him. No longer is it (or was it) just about young people and African Americans. Just look at Wisconsin's results last night: women left Hillary to support him, as did working class white men, previously thought to be out of his reach. And in Texas, where Hillary's lead had been in double digits, he's evened things up in the polls, thanks to greater support among Latinos.

3) Hillary's campaign has gotten more and more negative by the day. It's not going to work, and it's going to turn even more people off to her. As great as it is that people are voting for Barack all across the country, it's clear that a legit number of people (especially the moderate Republicans and independents who have been allowed to vote in some Democratic primaries) are voting as much against Hillary as for Barack. She's aiming to win that 51% majority, but, as we say at Hopkins lacrosse games, we want more! This isn't about 1/2 of the country; it's about the whole country, especially those moderates who are turned off by the Clintons.

4) In so many states where Barack wasn't given a chance, he has won or made up significant ground. He has done this a tremendously fast speed and the fact that he has gotten more and more time to make his case known to the American people. And now that he has the momentum of ten straight wins, 25 out of 36 races, and the lead in delegates (pledged and total), the doubters have no choice but to take him seriously. He is the frontrunner now, which brings with it a whole host of new challenges, but also brings legitimacy and added coverage. People who didn't know him before know him now, as we can see in Texas, where a double-digit Clinton lead has already vanished.

So, in a nutshell, that's where I believe the campaign stands as of now, and, in many ways, NH was a microcosm of that. We have two more weeks until the primaries of March 4th, and if Hillary doesn't win both OH and TX in blow-out style, we'll be in good shape for Denver in August and hopefully Washington in November!

P.S. More on the other two exciting events of my winter--deejaying and Israel--to come. Bet you can't wait.