Or so say I. I’ve read two posts in the last couple of days where people have said, “I don’t care about the election results, but I vote because I’m a good American.”
Nonsense. You aren’t doing anybody a favor by registering your political preferences. And if you really don’t care about the results, then your vote is diminishing the value of those who do.
If you don’t care, sit back and let us drive.
Response?
Most people don’t vote.
I thought it was “bend over and let me drive”? 
Note, though, that if you don’t vote, no politician is going to care what you think. You’re just extra revenue for the tax base.
Politicians tend to pander to us older folks, because a higher percentage of us vote. Take that, young whippersnappers! 
Is THAT why your username mentions an Old Person’s sport! (Ooh, I’m gonna get it for that one! If he can catch me on his walker, that is.)
(wheeze) come back here, you young punk! (gasp) Why, in my day…
I agree with the subject line (I’ve seen elections won because clueless morons went and just voted for the person with the best name), I also would add:
But if you don’t vote, don’t bitch.
I did care,
I did vote,
It didn’t matter,
so why should I bother next time?
Just because your candidate lost doesn’t mean your vote didn’t matter. When some elections come down to literally hundreds of votes, every one really does count.
Voting is and should be a fundamental right of this country, and exercising that right is, IMHO, a responsibility.
Esprix
The subject line is exactly why I don’t vote in most elections. President, yes. Congressional representation, yes. Local elections? Nope. Take my current situation - living in Washington, DC. I am only going to be here for another year or two max. Why should I cast a vote for the mayor or a city council member when I have no vested interest in the long-term health or welfare of the community at large? Not to say that I don’t care about the community, but I just don’t feel justified in making a decision that will effect the city long after I am gone. So until I am mostly done with my education and reasonably settled in a location, I’ll vote in national and occasionally in statewide elections, but rarely in local elections.
Thanks for listening,
Once in a while you can get shown the light
in the strangest of places
if you look at it right…
So when you get settled in your new home, will you vote in your local elections? Seems to me those have far more immediate impact on a person than national do. IMHO…
Esprix
That’s an easy way out. I don’t vote and I have every right to bitch. Our government doesn’t represent us, and there is no possible way for it to do so. The vast majority of our government is apointed not elected. Those that are elected are elected because they serve the interests of Big business, not because they have popular appeal. I don’t vote for people because I know it won’t make a difference. Allow me to clarify that slightly. I do live in San Francisco, so I do vote on props. And I did vote in the last D.A.'s race, however I think that if someone else didn’t vote in that race because they felt they couldn’t make a difference, they would be more correct than someone who had voted. They understand how politics works much more than your average voter.
Bitch all you want. Nobody’s going to care, though, because you don’t vote so you don’t count.
Um, Esprix? I know I’m new here, and I don’t want to question someone with whom I so often find myself in agreement (I’ve lurked a lot), but…even if an election comes down to “literally” hundreds of votes, your vote doesn’t matter. Mathematically. If you vote for Jim Bob, and he wins by three hundred votes, he would still have won had you not voted. If you don’t vote, and Cletus* wins by thirty votes, he’d have still won if you’d gone out and voted against the dirty sumbitch. Sure, it’s a narrow margin of victory–far narrower than most–but your single vote ain’t gonna determine the outcome either way. One vote is still only one vote, no matter how close the race.
Look, I’m as big a proponent of democratic principles as anyone, and I think voting is a wonderful, wonderful thing. En masse, it’s absolutely crucial that people get out there, get themselves informed, and take part in our ostensibly representative political process. And if you can mobilize other people who share your point of view to get out and vote, that’s fantastic–you can definitely make a difference. But the odds of your one vote actually influencing the outcome of an election? Well, let’s just say you’ve got a better chance of persuading CalifBoomer to tongue-kiss Ricky Martin.
Now, if our system of voting was based upon proportional representation or preference list…naw, but those are sicko socialist European ideas, so who needs 'em? :rolleyes:
*I’m assuming for the purpose of these hypotheticals that you’re a registered voter in Alabama.
oldscratch said:
Sure, you have every right to bitch – it’s in the First Amendment. But that doesn’t mean I want to hear it if you can’t even be bothered to use your right to vote.
Well, you’re certainly doing a good job bitching. Too bad you don’t put some of that energy to work in trying to change things – like by voting. You may think your vote won’t make a difference, but I can assure you that if you don’t vote, your opinion certainly won’t matter.
oldscratch wrote
Man, I am so glad to hear you don’t vote. Especially since I live in the Bay Area as well. This post is for you, baby.
I’m happy to report that I very rarely vote because I rarely see a politician who I can get behind and who doesn’t appear to be pandering to the lowest common denomenator.
Another reason is because voting only serves to encourages political behaviour… 
Yes, yes, blah blah blah. You should still vote. I’d resort to the “if everyone who didn’t vote actually voted things would change,” but even I would refute that. Suffice it to say that everyone should vote - we’ve fought for it, we’ve earned it, and even if the system is far from perfect, it’s the best thing we got, and involvement by everyone can only improve it (IMHO).
Well, I did persuade CalifBoomer to change his opinion on something, and Ricky Martin did dodge Barbara Walters’ question if he was gay or not, soooooo…
Esprix
How limited of you. The only way to change is to vote? I don’t think so. I fo quite a bit of work to change things. I’m just not foolish enough waste my time voting. Silly me, I’m a socialist, a Sorelian, if you must know. And no, that is not a Star Trek alien. I believe that the only way to create change for the positive is through direct mass action. How could people have shut down the WTO through voting? The end of Apartied didn’t come through voting. The EPA didn’t come through voting. Supreme court descions are not influenced by voting. Affirmative action wasn’t created through voting. The Spanish revolution didn’t come about through voting. Etc, etc. The death penalty ban in Illinois didn’t come through voting, it came through people putting pressure on the system. If anything I put in more work then your average voter, who is content to check a few boxes once a year and then complain when the politions don’t do what they promised.
Oldscratch said:
Baloney in all the cases above.
All of those things happened because people voted in politicians who made them happen. Even Supreme Court cases – because justices are appointed by the President, who is voted into office.