«  Sun.11.05.2000  » 2:37 pm EST        56°F (13°C) in Ann Arbor On the eve of Election Day, I'd like to offer my tidbits of wisdom and this endorsement. DON'T BE A BUSH WHORE -- VOTE FOR AL GORE! (Apologies to the friend of mine who made that up.) In any case, I urge my fellow American readers to elect the man who's proven he has the experience and knowledge necessary to be the President of the United States. Sure, George W. Bush has been the governor of Texas, but his entire political career spans less than a decade. Al Gore has held various public offices over the last 25 years, so if anybody knows how to deal with the Washington bureaucracy, it's him. I know that some idiot voters are going to choose Bush just because he has a nicer smile, or has a better personality, or whatever. I'm sorry folks, but this election is not about who looks better -- it's about the positions of each candidate, and their visions for the future of this country. I feel Gore has the clearer vision of where he wants the United States to be, both now and in the next 20-30 years. Before the third-party folks jump all over me, I must say I agree with both Harry Browne (the Libertarian Party candidate) and Ralph Nader (Green Party) on a number of issues. However, neither man has a realistic chance of winning -- even Nader's projected 4-6% of the popular vote won't translate into even one electoral vote, unless a rogue elector jumps ship. Furthermore, studies have indicated that it's Gore, not Bush, who is more likely to lose the election if a lot of people vote third-party. So -- if you're a die-hard third-party fan, I can't change your mind; but if you're still undecided, and considering a third-party candidate, I urge you to vote for Gore. This country needs the solid leadership that he can provide, not another Clintonesque "frat boy" in office. Spanning some of the other races going on in Ann Arbor, I'm going to detail my selections. U.S. Senate (R: Spence Abraham (I)/D: Debbie Stabenow): Stabenow U.S. House, 13th District of Michigan (R: Carl Berry/D: Lynn Rivers (I)): Rivers Michigan House, 52nd District (R: Scott Wojack/D: John Hansen (I)): Hansen University of Michigan Board of Regents (field of 11 candidates): Maull (Libertarian) and McGowan (Democrat, incumbent) Ann Arbor Mayor (R: Stephen Rapundalo/D: John Hieftje): Rapundalo Michigan Proposal 1 (school vouchers): Yes Michigan Proposal 2 (require 2/3 majority of Legislature to take away municipal government powers): Yes The vouchers issue in particular has been hotly debated over the last nearly two years. The issue is so contentious that even the two advocacy groups on opposite sides of the issue have similar and confusing names: Kids First! Yes! supports Proposal 1, while All Kids First opposes it. I'm sure this is bound to confuse the average Joe Blow Michigan voter on Tuesday. Moving on to non-political news, I've finally finished a project I've been working on for the last two weeks -- "The U-M Transit Manifesto." The Manifesto is not an attack on those who conspired to fire me, nor is it an indictment of anything that U-M Transportation Services does or doesn't do. Rather, I have identified the problems within the system (both present critical problems and future potential problems), and proposed solutions to fix those problems. Click here to read it. Editor's note: Link removed February 11, 2004; it has been dead since early 2001. Anyhow, my parents are forcing me to make a half-hour-or-so visit back to Dearborn, so I will be leaving for there shortly.