Voting, When Your Vote Doesn't Matter

Townhall.com ^ | May 16, 2012 | Ryan James Girdursky

[Kaslin]

As a conservative Republican in New York State, I have long understood my vote doesn’t matter. Yes, Reagan won the Empire State back in 1984, however it is quite clear that unless the entire lower tier of the state were to sink in the ocean, we Republicans do not matter statewide. The same is true for liberals in Texas, unless by a freak accident Austin were to withstand an alien invasion that destroyed the rest of Texas, a liberal Democrat’s vote does not matter. So this election, perhaps due to my youth, political naiveté, or apathy to the entire political system, I am voting 3rd party.

If you a resident in any state except for New Hampshire, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New Mexico, Michigan or Maine, please understand that your election has already been decided; your vote does not matter. If you happen to live in one of the states previously mentioned by all means, vote the traditional way and make a decision for the rest of the country.

However, being a conservative first and a Republican second, I cannot vote for Mitt Romney in good conscience. He is not a conservative, no matter how many times Ann Coulter or any other conservative pundit may tell me he is. Without breaking into a diatribe of his record or speeches… a liberal, a moderate and a conservative walk into a bar, the bartender says, “hey Mitt”. The humor is valid because the truth is well known. The Republican party is only a viable political party when it is instilled with values, when it campaigns with candidates that do not have intrinsic values it is as useful as a 1992 Sony Walkman.

President Obama is not hope and change; he is a cesspool of polls, interest groups, and large donors. He is the type of man who states we cannot go back to the failed policies of George Bush but has launched more aggressive military action than Dick Cheney ever dreamed of. He is a man who states he going against greedy corporations, but he signs into law legislation that benefits and is lobbied by big corporations, such as Philip Morris’ efforts to lobby for the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. He is a man who will play to the lowest common denominator for votes and campaign donations.

Our problem is not the lack of a large third party, we lack a third, fourth, fifth and sixth party. We need parties that show every shade of our political beliefs instead of allowing just two parties to encompass our political philosophies. Luckily there are plenty of minor parties to start with; on the right we have the Constitution, Libertarian, America‘s Party, and Boston Tea Party while on the left third parties include the Green Party, Justice Party, Peace and Freedom Party, and the Socialist Party USA.

The idea of voting third party has been called crazy or throwing a vote away. However, unless people start to demand a greater narrative from their nominees and parties, how can we ever actually even expand the conversation?

Political debate is stifled and the only questions “reasonable” people are allowed to ask are which nation should we bomb next, how high should the level on inflation be, when will China overtake America as the world’s largest economy, how should our healthcare be micromanaged by the state, and when will the government create hate speech legislation. When either party gains total control over one interest group, whether it be the Christian Right, Feminists, Labor, or in the larger picture, conservative and liberal thought, then they are free to ignore or abuse the voter at will because the voter has no where else to go.

To any clear and rational reader, the re-election of Barack Obama or the election of Mitt Romney as our President will change very little. In real terms of how it affects the life of John Doe, change will not be very dramatic. The bureaucrats who control Washington will have more or less all the say as they do today. The EPA, FDA, Departments of Education, Energy, Homeland Security, TSA and the IRS will still be meddling with private property, children’s education, the efficiency of our homes and work places, being frisked at the airports, monitoring our phone calls and taxing a third of our livelihood.

The lack of choice in this election is so stomach turning and disappointing, at times it makes me miss the idea of being under the monarchy. At least in a monarchy you know who to guillotine, which is an implausible reaction to our current system. By the time we finish off the EPA, the guillotine will be too rusted for the Dept. of Education or the TSA.

While for those consumed with love of party, the vote for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama seems to be a battle for the lesser of two evils. But for those consumed with the love of country or political thought, a vote for Barack Obama or Mitt Romney is a betrayal of the heart and mind. So if a voter understanding that their vote already doesn’t matter, why vote for the evil at all, even if it is the lesser of the two?

[Gaffer]

Curious. Nowhere in my quick read of this do I seen anything about voting for down-ticket candidates that could make a difference. It reads just like a treatise on why one should not vote for Romney and how we should create a third, fourth, fifth, sixth party.

[larryjohnson]

Serious question. What time is it? My webtv says 5:00am yet I am on EDT, 9:oo am. Yopur post on FR says about 5:56 last time I checked.

[Texas Eagle]

Same thing here in California. I haven't decided whether or not I'll vote for Romney.

Thankfully, we do not elect a President based on the popular vote so I don't really look at it as throwing away my vote.

As for the rest of the ballot, I will definitely vote for the closest thing to a Tea Party candidate we have to choose from all the way down to Dog Catcher.

[kathie4guv]

As someone who ran for Texas governor in 2010 as a Libertarian, I will follow this thread closely. Conservatives (who knew about me)agreed that I would be a better governor than Rick Perry but they voted for him anyway. I continue to try to to understand this.

[skeeter]

Our problem is not the lack of a large third party, we lack a third, fourth, fifth and sixth party. We need parties that show every shade of our political beliefs instead of allowing just two parties to encompass our political philosophies.

Naive in the extreme. Liberals may only represent 30% of the population but they are extremely cohesive.

In any race with more than one or two other parties any coalition of organized labor, public employees and welfare queens will dominate until the wheels come off.

[Rockitz]

This guy must have read my post here.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2871012/posts?page=1341#1341

where I suggested that a protest vote against the GOP-e might be possible in ULTRA-blue California and by inference other solid blue states, but wouldn't be wise in a battleground state.

[Flintlock]

We’re going to haveta hold RINORomney’s feet to the fire in order to hold him to the st raight and narrow.

We have to bend him to the Right.

At least we know he’s bendable.

I’d go after the Fedgov with a chainsaw, but that’s me.

[thulldud]

It reads just like a treatise on why one should not vote for Romney and how we should create a third, fourth, fifth, sixth party.

Maybe an attempt to suppress conservative votes?

As for third, fourth, etc., parties, you need a "second" one before you can start on that list.

[Eccl 10:2]

Our problem is not the lack of a large third party, we lack a third, fourth, fifth and sixth party. We need parties that show every shade of our political beliefs instead of allowing just two parties to encompass our political philosophies.

**************************************

Naive in the extreme. Liberals may only represent 30% of the population but they are extremely cohesive.

In any race with more than one or two other parties any coalition of organized labor, public employees and welfare queens will dominate until the wheels come off.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Agreed. One only needs to look at Europe to see the results of multi-party systems.

[Kaslin]

I posted the article at 7:58:00 AM CST. It is 8:17 CST right now. I think it depends on what your setting is. I have mine set to CST. Perhaps you want to change yours to EST

[EQAndyBuzz]

“However, being a conservative first and a Republican second, I cannot vote for Mitt Romney in good conscience.”

Yeah, I said the same thing about John McCain in 2008 and look what happened. I am voting for Romney then taking a long shower afterwards to clean off the ick.

[Graewoulf]

Thanks for this thread.

[kearnyirish2]

My thoughts exactly; there are more local races that matter. BJ Clinton was in office for eight years, but his damage was limited to the first 2 by people voting in a Congress that could contain him.

[Jumper]

What splinter group do you most closely identify? Might it be the TEA Party, Ron Paul, or some other small tent that fails to encompass the entire political spectrum.

TEA Party is about basically one idea and that was TAXED Enough Already, and that Enough is Enough, and that since so much has already been taken away that we hold dear we will not compromise one more interest for the sake of political give and take.

Ron Paul is also about fiscal responsibility embodied in opposition to the FED in a nutshell, yet somehow his supporters at the meeting I went to are in lock step over Obama's support of Gays, e.g., they do not care about the social context of the political spectrum.

My interests are economic, political (Geo in context) and military based on a cold war reality that Peach through Security allowed countries such as Germany, Japan and South Korea to prosper in the seas of communism and socialism.

Your answer in my estimation is that you are lost in the Big Tent GOP and DNC.

The solution is tie yourself in activism and personal effort to ensure a splinter group such as TEA or PAUL grows and slowly overtakes the main party (an example of which is Chicago politics starting with the Race Riots of the 67-68, folks like Hillary defending the Black Panthers, Oprah W. and finally Barrack ascending to primacy over the DNC with a liberal brand of socialist black thug power).

The TEA Party continues to target the most egregious affronts to conservatism within the GOP and PAUL has built a growing constituency of renewable voters and supports with each of the last three elections. TEA will eventually overtake the mainstream GOP and PAUL will eventually prosper if his supporters embrace social conservative issues rather than parroting the liberal social democrats.

[jiggyboy]

Rebuttal: In this presidential election, even in California, a vote for the Republican DOES matter. California has joined the cabal of states who will give their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote. It’s arguably unconstitutional (I forget exactly why, states may not enter into deals with other states?) but right now it’s CA law.

They want to have it both ways in case it’s a repeat of 2004, where Gore, in one of the many recounts, arguably got more popular votes than Bush. (But if the opposite happens this year and Romney wins only because of such a scheme, you can bet your bottom dollar that CA will make it Job One to repeal it.)

Let me say it again: in CA and some other liberal states, this year, a vote for the Republican candidate matters!

[kidd]

If you a resident in any state except for New Hampshire, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, New Mexico, Michigan or Maine, please understand that your election has already been decided; your vote does not matter.

If the author's article catches on, then there are only a few states where your vote doesn't matter. And Texas isn't one of them, nor is Oregon or West Virginia.

The only states where your vote doesn't matter are the deep blue and deep red states: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, New York, District of Columbia, California, Hawaii and Utah, Oklahoma, Alabama and Mississippi

[digital-olive]

Unfortunately I am in a swing state and have to hold my nose.

[larryjohnson]

Well, I voted for the Libertarian for pres in 1988. This because Ron Paul was my fraternity house roomate. Since then I have become almost libertarian, Stossle fan.

[q_an_a]

What a joke - you are so right about donw ticket. Take a look at the mjor cities of TX. They all have democRATS in control. A gay woman in Houston, Austin even elects democRATS to run their city attorney and Dallas comes up with a republican every 10 years when the budgets and services are all a mess.