A few words before the election

Tomorrow, America will go to the polls…or at least, some of us will.  Yes, this is an important election.  The most important one ever?  I doubt it, despite all the rhetoric.  Still, it is very important, because the country is in serious trouble.

We are faced with several choices.  Realistically, either Barack Hussein Obama will be reelected, or Willard Mitt Romney will be elected.  While there are other choices, the system as it now stands greatly favors the two major parties.  Like it or not, that’s just how it is.

There are those who say there are great differences between Obama and Romney.  Certainly the two men have vastly different backgrounds and experiences, and would undoubtedly bring different styles of management to the next four years.

If Obama wins, then we can expect more of the same things that we’ve seen the last four years, only on steroids.  As is typical, a second-term President is unencumbered by the restraints of needing to worry about reelection; he is concerned only about getting his policies in place, and securing his place in history.  If you are a proponent of more government, more spending, and redistributing the wealth from the haves to the have nots, then you should vote for Barack Obama.

Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has promised less government, less spending (except for military spending), fewer regulations, and lower basic tax rates for all.  He has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), and to offer his own version of healthcare reform in its place.  If you believe he can do this, then you should vote for Mitt Romney.

There are those in both major parties who will encourage you to vote the ‘straight party ticket’, because presumably all of the party candidates support the same basic party platform, and have similar views on the issues.  That is, after all, why parties have platforms in the first place.  I strongly urge you to read both major party platforms, even though that tends to be a somewhat painful process.  Then, think about what previous platforms have said, and what little relationship those platforms had to what was actually done by the members of both parties, once they were elected.  It may make reading the platforms for the first time a bit more palatable…or it just may piss you off even more.

The reality is that for most of us, our votes don’t really matter.  Unless you live in one of a handful of swing states—Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, some others—your state is either so solidly red or blue that your one little vote makes about as much difference as a drop of water in the ocean.  In my state, Mitt Romney was up by more than 20% in the most recent poll.  Baring an act of God, he will carry my state by a comfortable margin.  Some would say this is a reason to despair, and not bother voting, but I disagree.  I view it as an opportunity to use my vote to try to change the system for the better.

If you are like me, and live in one of the 40-odd states that are solidly committed to one candidate over another, then you also have this opportunity.  Regardless of whether you consider yourself a Democrat, Republican or Libertarian, I would ask that you consider voting for Gary Johnson.

Before you reject this notion out of hand, please think about this:  Gary Johnson is the independent candidate most well-known in this race (Sorry, Jill—you Greens didn’t have the cash to really push the airwaves.  Maybe if you start raising money now for next time around.) and thus most likely to be able to poll 5% of the popular vote.  Why is this so important?  Because if a third party—ANY third party—gets 5% of the national vote, it will qualify for federal matching funds in the next election cycle…and THAT will break the two party duopoly that we now have.

Are you truly happy with the candidates of the two major parties?  Wouldn’t it be nice to see at least one more voice on stage at the debates, to bring differing views to the table?  More importantly, wouldn’t it be nice to see both major parties have to work harder to attract your vote, be more responsive to your issues, and to generally pay more attention to what they do and how they do it…because there would be new blood ready to take their place?

There are those who say that a vote for Johnson is a vote for the ‘other’ candidate.  Realistically, unless you’re in one of those few very close swing states, that’s just not true.  To say that is to encourage you to be a good little lemming, and do as you’re told.   If you want to be an obedient lemming, then believe that.  However, if you want to be an informed voter, you can disregard that, and consider your vote carefully.

There are those who say that a vote for Johnson is ‘wasted’.  Again, not true, for the same reason as above in most states.  Additionally, it’s rather insulting, I believe.  How can voting your conscience and beliefs ever be ‘wasted’?  Wouldn’t that mean that every vote cast for someone who didn’t win would be ‘wasted’?  Why vote at all, then?  Why not just have a dictator decide what the results of the vote would be, without all the bother and expense of holding an election?  The entire point of the democratic process is to allow everyone to make their own opinions known…and then to try to reach some kind of consensus about who’s in the majority, and who’s in the minority, and how do we manage to carry on without killing each other.  There are no ‘wasted’ votes!  There are only votes for candidates who didn’t win, or for those that did.

In summary, for those of you in the swing states, I encourage you to vote your beliefs and consciences.  For the rest of us, we have an historic opportunity to change the system that has so manifestly failed us these last several decades.  Look around you…is the country doing well?  Then ask yourself this question:  could a third party added into the mix make things any worse?

I hope you come to the conclusion, as have I, that having more voices added to the chorus can only make things better.