Posted on 10/30/2006 10:34:02 PM PST by goldstategop
Some people get mad at me when I tell them not to vote.
But I believe there is a right time to abstain from casting a ballot – particularly if the only choice is a Democrat or Republican who are indistinguishable on the major issues of the day.
A good example of a race where a protest vote for a third party candidate or a non-vote would be the right thing to do on Election Day is the New Jersey Senate race between incumbent Robert Menendez, the Democrat, and Republican challenger Thomas Kean Jr.
(Column continues below)
Pollsters say the race is too close to call. And I don't really care how it comes out.
Some Republicans will hate me for this. They will point out that control of the U.S. Senate could be at stake in this campaign.
I say, if Republicans need Thomas Kean Jr. to control the Senate, then they really won't have control anyway. Because Kean is a RINO – a Republican in name only, a Republican who is embarrassed about being a Republican, a second-generation country clubber who, if elected, will turn out to be a bigger embarrassment to the GOP than a straight-out loss of the Senate.
No, I would never urge a vote for Menendez. He's part of the corrupt Democratic Party political machine in my birth state. As far as I can tell, there isn't a single issue on which he's right.
But, honestly, Kean is no better. Not at all.
And here's the real trouble with electing a sniveling weasel like Kean. What you get is a back-stabbing RINO who will spend most of his time distancing himself from his Republican colleagues, showing that he is "different," that he is "bi-partisan," a conciliator – and someone with no principles whatsoever other than his own personal empowerment.
We've had Republicans in the Senate like this before. Think Lincoln Chafee.
Even though polls in New Jersey show voters there more concerned about local issues than national issues, Kean is spending most of his time right now running away from President Bush – not on the border, not on profligate spending in Washington, not on the political correctness run amok in the White Hose, but on the war in Iraq, the war against jihadist terrorism, the war that will destroy America and Western civilization if we don't achieve victory. It wasn't Democrat Menendez who called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. It was Kean.
Last week, when he heard that Rush Limbaugh had taken on Michael J. Fox for shamelessly politicizing a disease, Kean issued a statement denouncing the talk-show host. He hadn't actually heard Rush's articulate admonishment of Fox and those using him in this campaign. But what Kean read in "press reports" was enough to get him to attack Limbaugh.
"There's no reason for this in our politics, and I don't subscribe to it," he said.
To what does Tom Kean Jr. subscribe? It's a good question. The answer is not much that's good for New Jersey or good for the nation.
If your idea of a good time is electing a spoiled brat rich kid to the U.S. Senate, then, by all means, vote for Tom Kean. Have a ball.
But if your goal in political involvement is to restore freedom in America, to restore moral sanity to our system of governance, to restore constitutional principles to Washington, to restore a reverence for the sanctity of life, to restore respect for America at home and abroad, then I'm afraid to tell you that you have no choice on Election Day in New Jersey. Better luck next time.
Actually, let me backtrack from that statement. You do have a choice. And casting a protest vote or not voting at all in this virtually uncontested Senate race is a very good choice. It's the only choice for those who want to see real competition in elections, who want to see better alternatives in the future.
Vote no on Kean. And feel good about your choice.
A republican vote is an anti democrat vote if nothing else. What a head up the hindy reasoning.
Farah is the enemy, with whom it appears that you agree.
LLS
I stopped looking at Whirl'd Nuts Daily when I figured out JF was a nutball....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
The difference is that we Control the Judiciary Committee!
LLS
Very good post--succinctly put. Throwing a hissy now and not voting is immature and self-defeating. "I don't have anybody perfect to vote for so I'm staying home" is the reasoning of a child.
Right now, it's about party chairmanships, the judges, and the fact that we don't need to spend two years debating impeachment while we're fighting a war for the survival of western civilization.
No tantrums! Vote "R."
Roger that.
Take it from me, we need RINOs from the places that cannot elect true conservatives, so that true conservatives from other places can lead this nation.
A vote for ALL R's is a vote for Senate Leader Santorum.
Every R counts, EVEN KEAN's R.
Newsflash, Trent Lott has already been calling around asking for support to become senate leader again!
Farah is a fool and a useful idiot to the left.
This election is national, this election is about party numbers.
That is the point.
Farah is a small fish who thinks he can be more important if the conservatives are a "small pond" minority.
A conservatvie victory creates a "large pond" and as a small fish he is lost.
I don't even bother with WND because of farash and his goofiness.
I just pick up the Limbaugh and Reagan columns here on FR.
electing Kean is another vote for Leader Santorum.
It also means Senator Lott will NOT be minority or majority leader.
Elections seem to bring out the best in people, no?
A good time not vote would be when the choice is "Guiliani" or another Democrat.
The thought of Menendez winning makes my skin crawl. I actually LIVE in NJ. Unless you're Hispanic, Bob Menendez won't acknowledge your existence. The Dem machine is alive and well here and I say a vote for ANY Republican is critical.
This is a time when being a pompous ass will make people pay for a long time to come. The other side is not an option. The only lesson learned will be many years of Democrats. You got a bag of apples, don't throw the whole bag out because a few aren't perfect.
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