I support a long-shot candidate for president in 2008. Believe it or not, he actually has worse odds of winning the election than any other even slightly known candidate. Worse odds than Ron Paul, Chris Dodd or even that great statesman Mike Gravel. To be honest, Robert Haines is more likely to end up president than my man.
That's because I support Garry Kasparov for president. Okay, so Kasparov is actually running in Russia. But the 44-year-old former Word Chess Champion represents the ideals of democracy better than any American candidate from Clinton to Giuliani. Fighting the corruption and fixed elections that have dogged Russia for years, Kasparov stands as the leader of "The Other Russia," a coalition of opposition parties who have united against their common enemy: President/ Dictator/Crime Boss Vladimir Putin.
Kasparov freely admits the impossibility of victory for his loose alliance of communists, leftists, republicans and a wide variety of other political organizations. From his Kremlin fortress, Vladimir Putin controls practically every aspect of Russia, including the media -- which constantly shuts out Kasparov (unless it is to ridicule him). Putin's party, also known as Unified Russia, dominates the Duma, Russia's legislative body, to the point where they could easily amend the Constitution to allow Putin to remain president past the two-term limit. The people no longer elect the governors of Russia's various provinces, as Putin appoints both them and the mayors of Moscow and St. Petersburg. And whether Putin manipulates the constitution so that he can run again himself or simply nominates one of his right-hand men in 2008, the government will continue to enforce one-party elections. On October 10, the Central Election Committee banned The Other Russia from taking part in December parliamentary elections. Speaking about the voting stations in his country, Kasparov said on the Colbert Report, "We have two boxes [in Russia]. One says Putin. The other says Shredder."
In all seriousness, Kasparov and his allies are significantly more likely to end up dead than win any national elections. Since 2000, when Putin took office, several opposition politicians and a number of Russian journalists have been murdered in "unresolved" cases. Most notably, Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter and human rights activist who openly criticized Putin and the Chechen conflict, was shot leaving her apartment building, and Alexander Litvinenko, another Russian dissident, died of polonium radiation poisoning in London. In an interview with The New Yorker, Kasparov acknowledged that he feared for his life. "The only thing I can try to do is reduce my risk," he said. "I can't avoid the risk altogether. They watch everything I do in Moscow, or when I travel to places like Murmansk or Voronezh or Vladimir. I don't eat or drink at places I'm not familiar with." He also spends tens of thousands of dollars a month on private security.
Kasparov's efforts to release his country from its totalitarian bondage despite the ridiculous odds and threats to his own personal safety speak volumes about his character and dedication to the ideals of democracy. His passion and pure idealism -- some would call it naivete -- is what makes him such an attractive candidate. While our American career politicians busy themselves slinging mud and jockeying for ambitious leaps at the presidency, Kasparov quietly joins forces with his oppressed political rivals, working toward creating some semblance of free elections and democratic procedures. And although Kasparov could have retired comfortably from public life as the reigning world chess champion, he has instead emerged as Russia's only hope for freedom in the foreseeable future.
"The problem is, we [The Other Russia] are short of resources and we have too little time to create powerful momentum to overthrow the regime," Kasparov said in The New Yorker. "But we do want to show that this regime is violating our basic constitutional rights. We want to use the campaign to publicize our ideas and tell the public that we are here. What we're saying is, we won't win now, but, when this regime collapses, be aware that we are here."
So are you one of those undecided voters looking for a decisive leader with strategic experience, someone who is against the war in Iraq, and who has created real coalitions that bridge political differences? If so, look no further than Garry Kasparov.
Of course, absentee ballots for Moscow might be a little difficult to come by.
