I feel a change in the wind. I foresee Illinois turning not blue or red on Election Day, but green.

I am so happy for Brian Pierce. He is beginning to see the light. His Tuesday column entertaining the notion of a third party candidate makes up for Jack McMillin’s misguided efforts to de-bunk democracy on Thursday.

Close-minded thinkers like McMillin are one of the reasons that our flawed system remains and is what keeps corrupt politicians in office. We are not in a democratic society if we accept that there is “nothing we can do to change” a system we see as flawed.

I wrote the draft of a letter to McMillin, but I didn’t send it. I fumed but kept my mouth shut two days later when the College Democrats wasted paper and my time by sending me a copy of his column through the mail.

But now my “Whitney for Governor” lawn sign is missing, and it is the last straw. It was the lone Green Party sign on the block. I want to scream sabotage and conspiracy! I feel violated, and I will not remain silent. I want my sign back, or at least a new one. I want people to acknowledge that there is a better option than “the lesser of two evils.”

This morning, the local news showed a poll of the gubernatorial candidates, with Blago leading Topinka. Whitney’s name was onscreen with an astonishing 12%, but he was not mentioned by name. How is that democracy? How can we allow some candidates to be ignored by the media?

Please, people, be free thinkers and look beyond party lines to the candidates themselves – at least consider, like Brian Pierce has, that our “two-party” system is outdated.

Judging from the recent slew of scandals and smear campaigns, it is clear that Illinois politics need to change. This election is a turning point for Illinois – we can either take a chance and become a progressive, trendsetting state, or we can remain in the stagnant stench of political corruption.

Do you want to be a leader or a follower? You have one week to decide.

Leah D. Nelson

Junior in Communications