I did, I went and voted even when it made trouble for me at work in the past. Hell, I pulled the lever for Nader/LaDuke one time. (Didn’t mattter, I’m in TX anyways.)
I give up. The bad folks have won. Eight Fucking Years of our government doing things I thought the bad guys only did. I am sorry, sorry to be an American right now.
Back when I was a Boy Scout from the U.S., I was lucky enough to visit Cataract Scout Park the year before the World Jamboree. I was taken to a movie, at one point. “Rocky IV” The one with the Russian and James Brown… I just wanted to see some Tanarama Beach boobs.
Non-US dopers: It looks like we have lost control of our country, right? That’s the truth. Gimmie 'dem boobs.
As one non-voter to another, I welcome you.
I think there are three perfectly good possible reasons not to vote, if you happen to meet their criteria:
You know that your region is certain to overwhelmingly vote a certain way. If your state is blood red, then one more drop of red won’t add anything, and one drop of blue won’t stop anything.
You’re a hardcore cynic and you think that politicians as a class will say any damn thing to get voted in, and thus their words mean nothing, and thus you cannot reasonably assess who is the better person. This position is somewhat weakened by the presence of voting records and whatnot, but still, if can be held if you are enough of a cynic.
You are too lazy and/or don’t believe that there’s enough difference between the candidates to make any difference which wins. (This perspective can be assisted by a healthy dose of that cynicism from case 2.)
You seem to qualify for case 1; in which case, you should feel free to refrain from voting without bothering with the doom and gloom. If you can’t make a difference there’s no point worrying about it.
If none of these cases applied to you, though, you ought to vote. Just because we got a round of selfish, amoral warmongers in last time doesn’t necessarily mean that there are no non-selfish, non-amoral non-warmongers to choose from this time. Arguably, the fact that we’ve been shown that there are definitively bad choices for politicians should be additional incentive to vote, in the hopes of detecting such slimes and choosing the other guy*.
(*If none of the given three cases applied to you, that is.)
For me, the worst part of it is that every single candidate I’d find even remotely appealing gets either mandhandled, buried, marginalized, or otherwise fragged, while the contenders are seemingly pulled out of a hat. The candidate who should be competing against Barack Obama is John Edwards, simply because unlike Obama or Clinton, he’s an actual liberal. And he’d put up a much tougher fight than Clinton, who’s looking like Wile E. Coyote right now. So why shut him out? That asinine “Breck Girl” thing, which maybe 500 people on the planet give a thousandth of a rat’s butt about? A little too liberal for a Bill Clinton-loving DNC? Not eloquent enough? I don’t have any reason that makes a bit of sense, and I definitely do not see the appeal of Hillary Clinton, who’s pretty much a complete 180 from what the Democrats need right now. (Exhibit A: Lots and lots of people absolutely hate her. Exhibit B: She voted to go to war with Iran.)
And on the Republican side, we have John McCain, a shameless shill for at least the third worst president of all time. But don’t hold that against him…he only took that stance because it was politically expedient! Same deal with the Intelligent Design advocates! He got the nod despite plenty of opposition because…well, Guiliani had nothing, Romney quit, Thompson never gained any momentum, and Huckabee…er…well, he just wasn’t right, okay? Between McCain’s age, shameless pandering, and disturbing willingness to remain in Iraq indefinitely, not to mention the albatross of Dubya, one wonders who the hell is going to vote for him. Oh, that’s right, the same people who voted for Dubya! If they could find a damn fool reason then, they can do it now!
Yeah. Sucks. Me, I never miss an election, but I don’t blame anyone for opting out. You’re only human.
It doesn’t bother me when people don’t care enough to vote for the presidential elections.
But what about local elections? IMHO, there are very few good reasons why people shouldn’t at least vote for their mayor and councilmen. I suppose apoliticism is one good reason (and in that case, I don’t want to hear any whining about taxes or incompetent public officials). But shouldn’t people care about what’s going on around them?
Personally, I can’t imagine not voting. People have given their lives for the right. It seems irresponsible to not to use it.
Very thoughtful. So do you think non-voters should be shot, or just whipped and jailed?
I really dislike the “you’re an idiot if you don’t vote” tone some people take, around here and elsewhere. The political system in the U.S. does not present every available option and I think it’s more than reasonable if some people refuse to make the least worst choice and endorse a system that is itself flawed. That’s my position, more or less, since I haven’t decided if I will vote or not in November. There’s no lever to pull that says “both these options are wrong and the assumptions behind them are wrong.”
I’m sorry that all these people work so hard and none of them is good enough for your vote. I hope in the next world you get the candidates that deserve you.
Up to you, but personally I feel voting is a duty, whether you think it counts or not. There have been a lot of people who died trying to get the right to vote.
PLEASE!!
In your country and mine (Canada), people have a right not to vote. BTW, I do usually vote but I completely understand why people would not want to vote when I see the total A-hole that have been presented as candidates in both our countries. Politics is a dirty game full of dirty players and perhaps the most moral of us should stay away from it.
As long as were rich and comfortable that is. That is why there is often line ups to vote in third world countries (not that it makes any difference).
To anyone who thinks voting doesn’t make a difference, I would ask this: Do you honestly believe the United States would be in the same position it is right now if Al Gore had been elected President in 2000? A few dozen voters could have turned George W. Bush into nothing but a minor historical footnote.
If you don’t like the people running the country, what have you done to stop them? If you didn’t vote against them, then you helped put them in office.
If there is no one to vote for? we are in the midst of the election year. no candidate has 100% what any constituate wants. You choose the one who more closely represents things you want from your country when talking about a presidential election.
The proletariat vote so they can live the way they want to - understanding this is what makes us important to the process, and the process voting people in to do the work you want them to. Would you rather be told where to shop, what to wear, what to listen to what to watch? I can introduce you to someone who can help you with that in North Korea.