Voting for President in a rigged oligarchy? Who needs it?
I have been voting in Presidential elections and most state and local elections since 1992.
I consider it my civic duty as an American Citizen, and in my day job as a middle-school U.S. History teacher I encourage my students every year to go vote when they reach voting age.
I do make a point to tell them that the state and local elections are more important than Presidential elections because they elect people/vote in constitutional amendments (in states like Florida) that directly impact them, whereas Presidents rarely have that same impact on their daily lives.
I have pinched my nose and voted for the "lesser of two evils" in every presidential primary and election until the current primary where I was finally able to vote for an honest, upstanding person who has fought for the disadvantaged at every turn in his political career.
It now appears that once again, the corporate oligarchy that now runs our country is going to force another "lesser of two evils" choice on us. Clinton vs. Trump, it appears to be, and no matter how many people vote for Bernie in the primaries, it appears they will not allow him to be the Democratic nominee.
In this primary season, I have finally come to realize that voting for President in this country is a futile gesture at this point, as the fix is in, and it has been in for a while now it appears. I am grateful to Bernie Sanders for opening my eyes to this sad state of affairs in Washington and I have made my decision.
I will no longer vote in Presidential elections where my only choices are corrupt politicians.
It is pointless. If you vote for the "lesser of two evils" you still get evil, and you are complicit in the evil, for voting for it.
From now on, I will only vote for Presidential candidates who not only talk the talk, but who have also walked the walk. If Bernie Sanders somehow manages to get the nomination, I will vote for him this November, because he has met that criteria. If not, I will look at the other candidates besides Clinton and Trump and maybe pick one of them, or perhaps even leave it blank.
To be clear, I am not giving up voting entirely. I will still vote for Senate and House of Representative Seats, and still vote for state and local representatives, and I will still encourage my students to do so as well.
I will, however, no longer be complicit with evil ruling the land.
Comments
insane
there is no outcome ... because there never was any outcome..
just power, raw power to be abused, people to crush...
oh woe is the pendulum , for she will swing
and fear not... we shall return
In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be, by remaining what we are...
Welcome to the club, I am Bernie or Green this year.
I too made the commitment in 2012 that it was the last year I was gonna settle, that I was done voting for the lessor of two evils.
I thought I would be voting Green this year anyway till Bernie came along.
But this thing ain't over yet. There is a lot of time between now and the end of July.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Bernie's campaign has swelled the ranks of that club
And it's a pretty swell club, too.
https://theindependentthinker2016.wordpress.com/2016/03/03/i-love-people...
Someone posted this piece at the reddit subthread, from Michael Ventura in 1996:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Kossacks_for_Sanders/comments/4mx90g/the_evil_o...
1996! Now here we are, 20 years later, finally getting it about "The Evil of Two Lessers."
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Jiddu Krishnamurti
Please do not leave the space blank.
Green, write in or some other choice besides the two criminals. It is way too easy for someone to fill in the little oval on a blank ballot to boost their own preference.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Hmmm
I hadn't really thought of that. Perhaps an independent or write-in vote would be in order.
Anyone considering writing in
Anyone considering writing in a candidate should check the laws of his or her state regarding how writing in will affect your ballot. In many states, Green or blank is a safer option.
What we really need is a "None of the Above" option on ballots.
and if the candidates do not meet a certain threshold of votes then new candidates need to be selected for another run.
Maybe this would get them to start placing more populist candidates?
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Yes!
I've always thought a none-of-the-above option should be on the ballot, and if NOTA "wins" then all candidates on that ballot would be automatically out, and the parties can try again to nominate someone worth voting for. Or open the election to individuals outside a party structure. That's the only way for voters to have a choice to reject all of the terrible options they put forth, instead of settling for the seemingly least bad.
It'll take a Constitutional Amendment
or a concerted effort in every state, territory, and possession that holds elections.
I don't know which is the tougher row to hoe.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
tikifire, there are other choices
As a few others have mentioned, please consider voting Green or write in candidate before leaving the space blank.
As an American citizen you have the right to abstain or participate in any or all parts of the voting process. You can either disclose your candidate preference or take it to the ballot box.
I am in the camp of wanting to fight for and with Senator Sanders in the GE. I am waiting for CA voting results before looking at my options.
Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. Stephen Hawking
I'm in the same camp. Just
I'm in the same camp. Just thinking ahead in case the coronation happens.
down ticket
I will vote down ticket and at the state level for those Democratic members of the House and Senate who have not endorsed, and do not endorse, Secretary Clinton. I don't think that description applies to a single Democrat in my state, but I will double check before November.
I hope those fortunate enough to be able to vote for people who endorsed Senator Sanders or who were endorsed by Senator Sanders do so.
Lesser of Two Evils and Competence
Trump *may* be the greater of two evils and Clinton *may* be the lesser. But Trump is wildly incompetent and Clinton is quite competent.
So it's really a choice between an incompetent greater evil and a competent slightly lesser evil. Which is really the right choice?
Another angle - Trump says horrible things, Clinton actually gets horrible things done (Libya, Syria....)
I don't see Hillary as competent
Her political campaigns are badly managed, her decision making and judgment are notoriously horrible. She's consistently described as a terrible leader, surrounded by sycophants. She says stupid, offensive things all the time -- remember how the Reagans lead the nation to address the AIDS crisis? She's either a pathological liar or clueless about reality - she will say anything and then do a 180 five minutes later. Her so-called competence is like Reagan's vaunted "charisma" -- a myth.
Trump's competence - I dunno, I guess it depends on how you define it and to be honest I haven't looked at him or his story closely because I never even considered voting for him. Hillary I did consider, and I wanted to be able to support her even, at one time. But her record is clear, I can't vote for her either. Her lack of competence isn't even the biggest problem, it's her character and her beliefs and her dishonesty and cynicism. Shudder...