To Vote, Or Not To Vote That Is The Question

"If the GOP loses, what are the Democrats going to do for you?"

Sadly, the question has become one more like, "If the GOP wins, what is the GOP going to do to you?

When "my" party goes into overdrive implementing policies that "the other party" could never in its wildest dreams obtain, then what's my incentive to vote for them?

For decades, I was a "broken glass Republican". Now, frankly, I'm tired -- to the point of exhaustion -- of the "well who are they gonna vote for? where are they gonna go?" mentality condescendingly tossed at us by the country club set that runs the GOP.

They love us when they want our votes -- but after they get our votes, they stick us in the back, and when asked how they can get away with abusing their base, they come up with gems like "well where are they gonna go?"

Well, I've decided where I'm gonna go.

Nowhere.

I'm boycotting the polls on election day. I'm staying home. I'm not gonna go anywhere.

Please, no one preach the "lesser of two evils" line at me, OK? At least not until you can accurately divine which party is truly the "lesser of two evils."

Is it the party that promises to ravage the country with endless socialist plans -- many of which they're inevitably blocked from implementing?

Or is it the party that preaches conservatism -- and then glides an endless series of ultra-statist garbage through the legislature, unopposed by anyone?

It's a nasty connundrum, and frankly, I can't decide which is worse. So I'm keeping my vote.

At the very least, I'll be able to proudly display a bumper sticker that says, "Hey, I didn't vote for him!"

And if the noises I hear from the hustings are in any way indicative of the growing sentiments out there, I'll probably be able to retire selling those bumper stickers.

I've got a feeling that the smug, arrogant, back-stabbing GOP countryclubbers who've never been able to figure out the meaning of "ya dance with the one that brung ya", will learn an expensive lesson in loyalty -- and the costs of betraying it -- come November.

"You may cast your vote any way you want but to not vote at all is not an option, IMO."

Just watch me. Me, and plenty more just like me.

A hobson's choice is no choice at all.

When the condemned is asked if he prefers the noose or the injection, that's no choice at all. The real choice would be "execution, or freedom?"

But, he's not given that choice, and neither are we.

The powers that be have decided to put this nation on a course of bread and circuses.

Being allowed to vote for the ringmaster is no choice at all.

"You either vote or lose your right to b!tch about the government."

Hogwash.

I pay for my right to bitch, with every taxbuck I fork over.

Do friends they'll probably never meet in person count for more than the grandkids future? Eunuch,coward and sissie come to mind too frequently when reading their "follow the crowd" posts.

As we race to the bottom, our rights and liberties are being swept off to the side. Our court justices are legislating new laws from the bench. Socialism and various social engineering processes are being supported by both parties.

Some folk are born to follow the heard...off the cliff. Others are slow learners...road kill on the info hwy.

Just watch me. Me, and plenty more just like me.

I understand what you say and why you say it. However, to not vote at all is to saying, in effect, that you want NO involvement in what government is in control at that time.

A hobson's choice is no choice at all.

Again I understand where you're coming from. However, again, if you don't like the choices you need to change the choices not abstain. At least IMO.

I pay for my right to bitch, with every taxbuck I fork over.

I'll give you this one partially.
I think it comes down to you may have a right to b!tch about how the money is spent but unless you vote, not who is doing the spending.

"I see your point. Isn't there some alternative party that you can identify with?"

Even if I do vote for a third party, it won't matter, because my vote won't count. That's the reason I've voted Republican (with a grand total of two exceptions) for all these decades -- until now.

And that's the reason I've argued with those who did vote for a third party -- until now. I argued with them because they believed that their votes would make a difference, whereas I knew that they wouldn't. We're stuck with a "two party system", to such an extent that many of our fellow countrymen actually believe it's in the Constitution.

"However, to not vote at all is to saying, in effect, that you want NO involvement in what government is in control at that time."

Well, no, it's more of an acknowledgement of the fact that I have no control, no involvement, at any time.

The closest any of us have to "control" or "involvement" is the ability to write a check big enough to gain some notice.

I don't have that ability, and even if I did, I hold the concept in contempt. If I want a banana republic, I'll move to one. (Sadly, more and more I appear to have one, without having to move to one.)

"...if you don't like the choices you need to change the choices not abstain."

Ah, but I can't change the choices. As one vote, I have no power. As an essentially empty wallet, my powerlesness is underscored.

Rationally, my only "power" is to abstain from the charade. If enough do -- and I'm beginning to think that they very well may -- then it will make a difference. The screw-the-voters "Grand" Old Party may have a rude awakening. Will "tough love" actually motivate them to stop screwing their base? I don't know. I do know that there's damned little else that stands the proverbial snowball's chance of doing so.

"Show up and turn in a blank ballot if you have to, vote third party as a protest, or write in Mickey Mouse. All those options are better than staying home."

I may end up writing in Alan Keyes, or some other genuine statesman like him, but I'd do so in the full realization that it would be a meaningless gesture. I don't think write-in votes are even tallied, unless the spread is narrow enough to where they'd conceivably make a difference. I know that it's the case with absentee ballots (which, due to my health, are a likely proposition anyway), which aren't even opened unless the spread is very narrow.

In conclusion, I'm not going to vote for someone whom I know is going to screw me. That means I won't vote "D", because the "D" party promises to screw me, and I won't vote "R", because the "R" party lies about not screwing me.

Screw them!

Even if I do vote for a third party, it won't matter, because my vote won't count.

It will count, just not enough until enough people vote a third party to make a difference. That's what changing the choice is all about.
I'm not ashamed to say that I voted for Perot in 96. I could not, in good faith, vote for Klintoon, Dole just wasn't my man, and my vote for Perot might have been lost in the shuffle but enough people voted for Perot to scare the devil out of both the main partys. They sure did convince Perot, in some manner, to not run again.

I may end up writing in Alan Keyes, or some other genuine statesman like him, but I'd do so in the full realization that it would be a meaningless gesture.

Sometimes the meaningless gesture is the only way to make it meaningful down the line.
I would rather try to convince enough people to make that meaningless gesture meaningful than not go to the voting booth at all.

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