Lawrence Pareles: November election no time to vote for spoiler candidates

Earlier this month, President Biden just gave a powerful and inspiring State of the Union speech, and the campaign for the presidency got really underway. The choice will be between Biden’s fight for democracy and freedom and Trump’s dark autocratic world. Now is the time for Democrats and Independents to come together to elect Joe Biden as our next president.

Unfortunately, plans are underway to run a third-party candidate. Candidates like Jill Stein or someone from the “No Labels Party” will pull votes away from President Biden, thereby helping Trump get elected. People who are considering voting for third-party candidates should carefully examine their extreme policies and dark money support coming from wealthy right-wing extremists. As history has demonstrated, third-party candidates don’t win elections. This election is no time to vote for spoiler candidates who would do nothing but swing the election to Trump.

Trump is telling us what he would do — replace the CIA, FBI, and Justice Department with his own people, and appoint lawyers willing to ignore the Constitution. His candidacy is based on division, distraction, and destruction. The Biden administration has created jobs, raised wages, lowered inflation, and built infrastructure — all despite opposition in the Republican-controlled U.S. House. The coming November election isn’t merely a political chess game — it’s really a battle for the soul of our nation.

The stakes for America couldn’t be higher, between a president who supports the rule of law and our Constitution versus one who will create a dictatorship. As we exercise our democratic right to vote, let’s unite to build a future based on our shared values. Let’s vote for the greater good, for an America that honors our democratic values and freedoms, and a society that works for us all. Let’s not be distracted by any third party candidates. President Biden is fighting for us. Now we need to fight for him, for our country, and for our future together.

Lawrence Pareles

Florence