# Olbermann says he doesn't vote. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306 "2008-11-12T04:40:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/21 "2008-11-13T03:53:31Z")
Say what you will, the man inspired Ben Affleck to do a hysterically funny impersonation on SNL. That has to be worth something. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/22 "2008-11-13T04:50:20Z")
He’s not assholish at all. He’s right. The idea that there’s some correlation between voting and being informed or voting and caring is ridiculous. My mom’s a voting fanatic, fully drunk on the Kool-Aid of “every vote counts”. She didn’t even know what, besides president, was on the ballot. She didn’t even care that I voted for myself for every office. She said “as long as you voted.” _That’s_ assholish. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/23 "2008-11-13T05:03:00Z")
Why wouldn’t someone vote? It’s not hard. It does matter. It defines what we are as Americans. It’s not assholish. I don’t understand that. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/24 "2008-11-13T05:30:31Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > Why wouldn’t someone vote? It’s not hard. It does matter. It defines what we are as Americans. It’s not assholish. I don’t understand that. 1. It _is_ hard. It takes at least a half hour for me to drive there, do it, and drive back. 2. It’s not worth a damn to anybody. Plenty of people will vote, so therefore I don’t have to. 3. It doesn’t define me as an American. I’m American whether I vote or not. You’ve got as much right to say voting defines Americans as keeping and bearing arms does. 4. It’s assholish to assume that voting=caring and notvoting=notcaring. My mom disproves the first, I disprove the second. Understand now? ETA: ref. “assholish”- not the word I’d choose (perhaps ignorant), but the OP suggested it, so there ya go. ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/25 "2008-11-13T05:38:34Z")
Well, there you go. Voting doesn’t matter because he or she doesn’t have time. That’s democracy. I understand now. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/26 "2008-11-13T11:27:37Z")
It’s true, though - for some people it’s difficult to take the time, but hopefully this will become less of an issue as more states adopt things like mail-in voting. Unless you’re committed to voting on principle, the benefits are questionable: in an election with millions of people, you’re vote doesn’t count for much. And as a broader issue a lot of people just don’t feel connected to the whole process. They sure don’t think it defines them as Americans - I vote and I don’t think that way. People in many other countries vote, so I don’t see the connection there either. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/27 "2008-11-13T13:12:51Z")
I vote. I don’t feel it’s a duty; it’s a right I’m glad I have. I don’t mind in the slightest when someone doesn’t vote, but I have a hard time understanding why they wouldn’t want to put their two cents in. What bothers me more are people who don’t have the two cents to contribute. THAT baffles me to no end. I cannot believe that some people have no (semi) informed opinion on things that effect their lives, but they walk among us nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/28 "2008-11-13T13:31:26Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Say what you will, the man inspired Ben Affleck to do a hysterically funny impersonation on SNL. That has to be worth something. I had not laughed so hard in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/29 "2008-11-13T15:51:14Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > So long as there’s a possibility that someone’s going to come back with, “Oh, yeah? Well, who did _you_ vote for?,” Actually, I think it would be a great thing if, as a matter of professional ethics, all journalists revealed whom they voted for, much as they are supposed to do “fair disclosure” on other potential conflicts of interest (though they often don’t). Going even further, I’d like TV commentators’ affiliations identified. Just as when politicians speak, they have a (R-Ohio) or (Chair, senate banking cmte.) graphic, I’d like to see networks occasionally run (Former democratic staffer) under Chris Matthews, (Married to Allen Greenspan) under Andrea Mitchell and so on… ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/30 "2008-11-13T16:35:11Z")
I (a Brit living in Sweden) haven’t voted since 1997. My prime motivation for it is that I simply don’t like any of the candidates. Is it right to vote for a party you don’t believe in just because you have the right to vote? I’d be all over the “none of the above” option if there was one. ---
**Author:** ![Apex\_Rogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@Apex\_Rogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apex_Rogers)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306/31 "2008-11-13T23:38:55Z")
> [@IntelSoldier](#): > > 1. It _is_ hard. It takes at least a half hour for me to drive there, do it, and drive back. _This_ is hard? I’d agree if you mentioned an hour-long wait time or more but a half-hour round trip is _very_ reasonable. This is somehow a serious impediment? It must be a very arduous task for you to do something simple like getting a prescription filled at the pharmacy if this is your definition of hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olbermann-says-he-doesnt-vote/472306.md?page=1)