November 4, 2008 – Will this date go down in infamy?
I’ve been voting for 20 years now, and not one of the presidential candidates I’ve voted for has won the election.
And analysts wonder why Americans don’t vote? I could easily ask myself: Why the hell should I? My candidate never wins.
Perhaps I should vote for McCain today, so my questionable luck will work in Obama’s favor.
But seriously, it’s not about luck, it’s that I usually vote purely on the principles of the party, the platform, and the candidates, and I always align way more closely with the Green Party and various independents than I do with Republicrats.
The one time I decided to vote for a Democrat for president, it was Kerry, and I only did that because I would have been ashamed to be an American if we voted for a second BushCo term. Look where that got me.
People said voting for Nader in 2000 was throwing away my vote. To those people: Fuck you. I threw away my vote when I voted for Kerry in 2004. I didn’t vote my principles, I voted for the lesser of two evils. I voted out of fear.
Now I’m going to do it again. I’m voting for Obama out of fear, not because I love him or his party.
I like Obama a lot more than I liked Kerry, but his Senate voting record leaves me very skeptical. He’s just as much a middle-of-the-road Democrat as Bill Clinton was, perhaps moreso. Don’t get me wrong, I think/hope Obama will be 100 times better than BushCo or McPain, but we’re starting at a pretty low starting point. It’d be truly hard for any Democrat to be worse. And 100 times better than Worst Ever President is still not all that great, in my book.
Please America, don’t make me feel like I threw away my vote again.
Labels: misc. personal, politics
Posted by espd at 5:15 PM |
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4 Comments
I really hate that phrase "throw your vote away." It's your vote, and cast it how you like. Even if you're voting for the "Peace and Freedom" party, at least you're voting, and that is better than staying at home and complaining about the election.
That being said, it is pretty clear that every election, only a democrat or a republican will win. I'm not saying that is a good thing, it is just the way it is.
11/03/2008 05:14:00 PM
@Matthew: “It is pretty clear that every election, only a democrat or a republican will win...” That is precisely the attitude that keeps people voting just for democrats and republicans.
You’re “not saying that is a good thing”? Well, you’re not going to do anything to change it by just being resigned.
Third parties are viable. Perot and Nader showed us that, love ’em or hate ’em.
But the republicrats won’t let the citizens wrest control away from them easily.
Electoral reform is necessary from the ground up. The citizens have to be willing to fight for their rights. And most are not.
11/04/2008 02:28:00 PM
espd...you are making many assumption about me.
It is a fact that the republicans and democrats have incorporated into their parties roughly 60-70% of the voting populace, and they will vote always straight party. I disagree with the notion that Perot and Nader showed that third parties are viable, because both were not even close to winning. Perot even had the millions, but couldn't do it.
I will vote for a third party if I find a candidate that I think is better than the establishment, but so far I have not (my opinion obviously). Is it because of supression by both the democrats and republican?...probably to some extent, but it is also smart recruitment into their parties of people that are smart and charismatic enough to start a viable third party, and in doing so preventing a viable third option.
You are right, it will take an uprising by the people to have electoral reform that you speak of, that is more than two viable parties. For the people to rise up, it will take a independent person with an Obama-like personality for people to rally around, and in my lifetime I haven't seen any third party person that fit this mold and ran for president.
As for what you said about me ("you’re not going to do anything to change it by just being resigned"), I will not be resigned when I see a person worth fighting for, and you shouldn't assume that I would not.
11/05/2008 03:33:00 PM
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11/12/2008 10:01:00 PM
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